'The Widow': Kate Beckinsale as Georgia Wells braved it all for love and was rewarded only with a coward at the end
This article contains spoilers
Amazon Prime Video's highly anticipated series 'The Widow,' premiered March 1 with raving reviews and Kate Beckinsale's fans have all the more reason to love her. The 45-year-old Beckinsale shines as Georgia Wells, an apparent widow, who embarks on a mission to find her supposed dead husband in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where his plane crashed three years ago.
Cue is the orange cap her husband, Will Mason, wore the day he went to Africa. Spotting a man wearing the same cap on a cable news channel reporting a riot in the DRC, Georgia Wells is convinced her husband is alive. Added to the suspicion is the fact that his dead body was never found. Without thinking about her own safety, and what people think about her conviction, Wells selflessly embarks on a mission to find her husband.
The eight-episode series constantly features flashback moments where Wells recollects nostalgic and happy times spent with Mason, such as an anniversary gift he surprised her with just before he left. Married for 10 years, their relationship was smooth sailing until the day their 3-month old baby daughter, Violet, died. Both of them were dealing with the pain of losing their only child and though Mason assured her they can always try for another, Wells was not ready to move on. She held on to her daughter's things, including the toys and decoration items.
In the midst of all this, he was sent to Africa by the charity organization he works for. He never returns home. Once considered dead, Mason was very much alive as we easily figure. However, the plot twist isn't exactly predictable. Yes, Mason is alive, and given the kind of flashbacks we see about him, we are assured he is a nice guy, a loving husband, perhaps kidnapped by villains, who Wells believes is Pieter Bello.
On Wells arrival in the country, she is instantly threatened. Her car is bombed, but she manages to escape. The number of times we hear Wells promise she is going to find her husband no matter the danger makes us believe in the power of true love. She holds a gun, kills a man who tries to rape her, fiercely fights the bad guys and even manages to kill Bello, when trying to inquire about Mason.
You would think that's a typical action story drizzled with romance and about what people would do for love. But the shocking truth unfurls in episode 7, when Wells finally meets Mason after sneaking into a house, which she thought were guarded by Bello's men. Not at all joyous to see her, but surprised nonetheless, Mason tells Wells to go back instead.
Narrating a rather shocking story, he tells her that it was his own decision to not return home to her and play dead. He tells Wells that he had discovered Judith Gray, his boss', smuggling deals and had blackmailed her into letting him join the enterprise so that he could help out his family financially, though the main reason was that he felt less of man for Wells, who was an accomplished army veteran.
Turns out Judith decided to have him killed on the airplane which she knew was going to get bombed by a corrupt general Azikiwe, for his own political interests. No wonder, Judith keeps convincing Wells that Mason is dead, and even tries to kill Wells for coming to Africa.
But Mason is far from grateful when he comes to know all that Wells did for him. Wells has her moment of breakdown on discovering Mason has settled in a new life and Pieter Bello was, in fact, his confidant who stopped him from going into that airplane.
"I called and I just couldn’t speak," he gives his explanation to Wells, blaming his guilt and fear. But even before the story is completed, and we try to wrap our head around why Will would fake his own death, a woman walks in, carrying a little baby, 3-months old, the age of violet. All along we had a notion that the woman was one of Mason's kidnappers, turns out he shares a child with her.
"It’s always just been the path of least resistance for you, hasn’t it?" Georgia responds and walks off. In the end, Wells still spares his life, by not informing Judith and the General, who want him dead and convinces him to tell the truth about the apparent air crash. He tells the truth, comes clean and we don't know what happens to him. But the truth is, Wells doesn't care anymore. He isn't her problem anymore.
The turn of events is baffling. Nobody saw it coming. It was stupid to think 'The Widow' would highlight a happy love story reunion. The show is about a woman finding her voice, her arms and ammunition, going through all kinds of hardship, only to be disappointed by a man who she would give everything for. What a waste!
