Ripley – Season 1 Episode 1 “I A Hard Man To Find” Recap & Review

I A Hard Man To Find

Episode 1 of Ripley begins with a flashforward to Rome 1961 and Tom Ripley drags a dead body down some stairs. The actual story begins 6 months before in New York. Tom Ripley is a small-time con artist who resolves to petty crimes such as creating fake receipts. He targets a rich man, Reddington but this tips off the teller and Tom is not able to cash the cheque as he runs off.

He suddenly gets an offer from Herbert Greenleaf, a shipping tycoon who wants to hire him. Once Tom realises that he is being followed by an investigator for fraud, he decides to hear out Greenleaf.

Due to some name-dropping, Herbert Greenleaf thinks that Tom is a friend of his wayward son, Dickie who is gallivanting in Italy. He is in Atrani with his girlfriend, Marge and Greenleaf wants Tom to go there and convince him to come home and take over the family business. Herbert offers good money and Tom agrees.

On meeting with the Greenleafs before he departs, it is revealed that Herbert believes Tom went to a prestigious college and his parents died when he was young. Our Tom, of course, goes with the flow.

He clears out his abysmal flat and travels to Italy in style. On the way, he writes a letter to his Aunt Dottie who finds him a disappointment and has been sending him money out of duty. He tells her that she is free of him now.

Once in Italy, Tom is out of his element as no one speaks English and everyone is in a rush. He ends up waiting all night at the bus stop and finally has a rickety and reckless bus journey via the Riviera. His troubles don’t end there as he has to climb a maze of stairs before he finally reaches Dickie’s villa only for the maid to say he is at the beach and Tom has to make his way down. Are those stairs worth all that money, Tom?

And of course, he needs to be dressed appropriately for the beach. Well, he doesn’t have many choices at the shops before purchasing tiny swimming trunks. He finally finds Dickie and Marge who are cordial and ask him for a swim but it seems he has a fear of drowning. The first meeting is a disaster as Marge observes him keenly and Dickie is formal but keeps his distance.

Tom’s interest in a Picasso painting has Dickie bringing up other artists but the conversation ends quickly. Tom is dismissed after lunch and he is frustrated as he has to again go up and down the million stairs till he finally checks into a hotel. From his hotel room balcony, he spies the couple on Dickie’s yacht. At the end of Ripley Episode 1, Tom heads to his bathroom mirror and practices talking like Dickie.


The Episode Review

Well, Ripley Episode 1 kicks off this Netflix thriller and it seems to have a decent start. The production, the espionage music, the locations and the set-up of each shot, are well, beautiful. The humour is subtle but definitely enough to bring out a chuckle from viewers especially as it becomes clear that Tom Ripley, a con artist, hates that he has to work so hard. 

It is very much visible on his face from his frustration at the lack of communication, the stairs and the couple’s aloof reception. If he had not been chased by the NY detectives, we can bet he would just take Herbert’s money and run off. 101%. But where would the fun be in that? Also, anyone else feel like something is up with Marge? She may not realise that Tom is a fraud but she is definitely onto him.

And on meeting with the Greenleafs, it seems that our protagonist may have stolen the identity of a Tom Ripley as Herbert seems to know a lot about this man. This may help clarify why a socialite friend of Dickie would also believe that he is acquainted with Tom when it is very clear the two have never met before.

 

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Read our season 1 review of Ripley here!

  • Episode Rating
    (3)
3

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