Ariana Debose appears alongside Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis in Scarpetta. Among the three ladies, there are three Academy Awards. Scarpetta is the much-anticipated series based on Patricia Cornwell’s bestselling novels.
The Prime Video episodic follows Kay Scarpetta (Kidman), the first woman Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The series straddles two different timelines, doubling the cast size. In the present day, we have Dr. Kay Scarpetta (Kidman), Kay’s sister, Dorothy (Curtis), and Kay’s niece Lucy (DeBose). They are flanked by Kay’s husband, Benton Wesley (Simon Baker), and Pete Marino (Bobby Cavanale) – who has double duty as Dorothy’s husband and Kate’s pseudo partner.
The younger Kay Scarpetta is played by Rosy McEwen, Amanda Righetti is young Dorothy, and Hunter Parrish (Weeds) is young Benton Wesley. Plus, Jake Cannavale is not only Bobby Cannavale’s son in real life, but he also has the role of a young Pete Marino.
Over the course of the eight episodes, audiences witness a potential serial killer on the loose in the present day. While at the same time, we go back to Kay Scarpetta’s first case as Medical Examiner, and the case that brought all of these characters together. We see how each of these women functions in the present and how each came to be the way they are. And let’s just say – it’s complicated.
At the center of it all is Kay. She is as cold to the outside world as the cadavers she cuts open. Her icy exterior and keen eye are both Kay’s biggest strength and her biggest downfall. Opposite her is her dramatic and narcissistic sister, Dorothy. Dorothy is about as present in her daughter Lucy’s life as Santa Claus is in the summer. That leaves Tia Kay to raise Lucy mostly on her own – which is the only time Aunt Kay shows any softness or warmth.
But trust us when we tell you that Lucy has more to do than just that. In fact, her storyline and how it evolves over the season is one of the series’ most thought-provoking.
Lucy is a financially independent genius computer guru who is living in the guest house on Aunt Kay’s husband’s estate. She spends her days grieving the recent loss of her wife Janet (Janet Montgomery) in a way that we haven’t seen on screen before: Janet, though dead, is alive and present in Lucy’s day-to-day life… as an AI companion. And when we say present, we mean present. We are talking daily, hours-long conversations between the two.
It’s an interesting choice that asks: Is there a healthy way to grieve? And if so, does the use of AI help or hurt that process? Let’s be honest, it’s a very provocative question and one that I found myself debating with colleagues. Scarpetta doesn’t answer it – it has a serial killer to find after all – so audiences will just have to ponder on their own.
Regardless, Lucy serves as the emotional heart of the show, and DeBose plays her incredibly well. Even broken and swallowed in grief, she manages to keep the two polar-opposite sisters anchored as a family while helping out with the investigation.
As for the sisters, what more do you need to know other than they are played by Kidman and Curtis? They are great. But I can’t help but keep going back to DeBose and the originality of her character’s situation. We, as the audience, have seen the cold and cut-off doctor many times. We’ve seen the loud, dramatic diva of a sister too. And we’ve seen the two interact.
So it’s Lucy who I’m left thinking about. Confident in her hella cute clothes (shoutout to the wardrobe department), yet so closed off, she’s worth pondering, even if her ethnicity is only superficially addressed in the show.
Overall, Scarpetta is engaging. It parallels the book with cliffhangers ending each episode, including the finale. I binged it in one setting, it was that good. Plus, it’s a real pleasure to see DeBose surrounded by other Oscar-winning women. That’s the proper company to showcase her talents.
All eight episodes of Scarpetta are available on Prime Video now.
