ANNIKA * BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL
Review by Paulette Reynolds * April 15, 2024
While scrolling on a tv forum about the second season of Annika, a fascinating detective show on PBS, fans were complaining about the series use of the “fourth wall” trope. Annika employs this theatrical device to communicate her anxiety about her personal life, using a literary lesson in between catching criminals and deflecting emotional ties. Some felt it was an unnecessary distraction, (others weren’t quite so polite), but the instant feeling of frustration seeped through their comments.
The problem here is that Annika relies on it to take the place of real intimacy - going into long explanations with us, instead of communicating with her family, friends, and coworkers. Instead, we become her friend, her confidant, and her sounding board.
She keeps everybody else literally behind a wall, where they remain at a distance, protecting her from the messy work of relationships. While this trope may act as a temporary bridge to reveal another sloppy moment of angst for Annika, it feels as though she’s in a rush to resume her one-sided chat with us, her captive audience.
She keeps everybody else literally behind a wall, where they remain at a distance, protecting her from the messy work of relationships. While this trope may act as a temporary bridge to reveal another sloppy moment of angst for Annika, it feels as though she’s in a rush to resume her one-sided chat with us, her captive audience.
Is the fourth wall better utilized in period pieces? For Persuasion, Dakota Johnson’s Anne Elliot uses it to share her views about her world and its inhabitants. She wants us to know who she really is and so she makes sly little comments to us, as though she just happened to bump into us.
The same can be said for Suranne Jones in the cancelled tv series, Gentleman Jack. Her she delivers her direct comments in a short, crisp, sardonic fashion, letting us know that we are all in on the joke about how society treats women as second-class citizens.
The fourth wall is on odd segue, because when used sparingly, it’s like adding a special spice to wake up a dish. It’s fun, it’s an instant connector and sometimes it tugs at the heartstrings of our modern sensibilities. Yet there’s danger in repeatedly breaking the fourth wall, as in Annika. But like the characters in this hit series, we may have to resign ourselves to Annika’s hide-and-seek approach to life - after all, it’s Nicola Walker here.
COPYRIGHT 2012/2024. Paulette Reynolds. All CineMata Movie Madness blog articles, reviews, faux interviews, commentary, and the Cine Mata character are under the sole ownership of Paulette Reynolds. All intellectual and creative rights reserved.
