Top 10 Moments from the TV thriller Obsession

 

Netlfix’s 2023 thriller OBSESSION is the talk of the town…but for all the wrong reasons.

Based on the novel DAMAGE by Josephine Hart, the story is about a physician who enters politics and is given a position in Parliament. He is married although the second he lays his eyes on his son’s girlfriend, he falls for her hard. Thus, begins an affair that leads to tragic consequences.

The novel was adapted into a movie which received positive reviews and even won a few awards.

Following that, the miniseries was released that consisted of four parts. The show stars Richard Armitage, Charlie Murphy, Indira Varma, and Rishi Shah.

Here are some top moments from the show:

1) Richard Armitage plays surgeon William who is seen in the very first scene, concluding a very complicated operation on conjoined twin babies. This is the only time we see him doing anything medical. Later, he is unable to even clean his own wounds.

2)Charlie Murphy’s Anna seeks William out at a party and is the one who is flirtatious with him. She pretty much asks William to feed her an olive and stares at him as he does so.

3)Anna sets the rules for their relationship. She texts him to her flat, strips him and then gives her consent. She gets to control when they meet and where. He gets to do what he wants to her in the flat.

4)Despite knowing his son Jay is getting serious about Anna, William continues his illicit affair with her, ignoring his responsibilities. At one point, his wife Ingrid asks him if they are fine and he lies to her. There is obvious uncertainty on her face. She knows something has happened between them.

Then again, at one point, Ingrid was the one who had forced William to show more of an interest in their son’s life as the girl he is seeing may become part of their family.

5)When William learns that Jay has taken Anna to Paris and may propose to her, off he goes to book a ticket. He lies to Ingrid about there being a conference in Brussels. Liar!
William then sits at a cafe opposite the hotel and spies on his son and his girlfriend.

6)Anna and Jay are getting ready for a date when William’s message sends her down a dark alley for a rendezvous. The two can’t keep their hands off each other at this point. After they are done, Anna berates him for coming here and tells him to never do it again.
But of course William is obsessed with her this point.

Cue the scene where as soon as Anna and Jay leave the hotel, William takes that very room and starts sniffing the bed and looking for a cushion with her scent. He then pleasures himself while sniffing that cushion.

7)William and Anna make up. He steals a page from her diary but he has also begun receiving messages blackmailing him. Anna tells William that Jay has proposed and he has to give her permission to say yes. On the bright side, he would get to see more of her. William reluctantly agrees.

At this point he is agreeing to continue an affair even if she gets married to her son and becomes her daughter-in-law.

William has clearly lost all sense of morality. All he can think of is having Anna although it is never clear why. He had a loving and understanding wife, and a nice family.

His interactions with Anna are too brief and there is hardly any conversation to begin with. Anna is the one who is damaged and she does self-sabotaging herself because of her past which is why she seduces William knowing Jay would want to end it with her when he knew.

8)The blackmailer turns out to be William’s daughter who has maybe two scenes in the whole series. Was her name Sally? Her role is brief and given meaning by making her suspect her father may be having an affair based on the torn page of the diary. Anna confesses the sheet is hers and William was only keeping it for her before he could return it. Sally buys the lie.

Anna is clearly good at lying. The blackmailing stops but another complication crops up in the form of Anna’s mother who suspects her daughter of having an affair with her to-be father-in-law.

William smashes a champagne glass in his hand when Ingrid gives a speech about how loving her husband is and how happy she is that her son is getting married.

Anna’s mother follows William into the bathroom to pull glass out of his hand. William doesn’t bother cleaning his wound or bandaging it up. It heals quickly because we don’t see him wearing a bandage later. So maybe he did use his surgical skills to use by stitching himself up?

9)After three episodes where nothing happens except for William and Anna doing bedroom stuff, it is time to add some twists to the story. In the last episode, Jay gets suspicious of William when he uses the same quote Anna uses. He decides to leave his stag party and follow his father.

His friends are too drunk to care to accompany him or even ask what he is up to.

William goes to see Anna who is waiting for him in an open robe. She has a blindfold on her eyes and gives in to William’s desires. Jay climbs up the stairs and even though he can hear the sounds, he is hoping the two are only exercising.

He opens the door and gets a straight view into the bedroom where both of them are engaged. Shocked by what he sees, he staggers backwards and takes a tumble right off the railings and falls headfirst downstairs.

William runs down naked to cradle his son while Anna realizing she has sabotaged one more relationship that has led to death, dresses up and simply leaves in shock.

10)William is ridiculed by the family, Anna is nowhere to be seen. William is allowed to attend the funeral but is told to get lost by Ingrid afterwards.

William doesn’t care about his family. He wants Anna and barges into her friend’s office and demands where she is.
Turns out Anna was with her mother who admits she knew her son was abusing Anna but she didn’t do anything. Heartbroken, Anna leaves. She goes on a self-destruct path by trying to hook up with strangers but William finds her and tries to console her.

While Anna feels regret, William doesn’t want Jay’s death to go to waste and suggest they continue the affair. She says, nope. William is left to cry and suffer for what his one mistake has done.

Anna tries to move on and attends therapy but admits she is used to having rules. The therapist asks if she would like to have rules. She looks interestedly at her therapist.

Clearly, she sees him as someone she intends to have an affair with.

The series thankfully ends.