Culture / Film

‘Guilty Party’ is the latest TV series coming to Paramount+ and it will unpack the white saviour trope

Paramount+ is making a very strong case for us to subscribe to yet another streaming platform with the promise of its new TV series Guilty Party.

On board the Guilty Party express is Kate Beckinsale as the protagonist, Beth Burgess. Joining her is Jules Latimer, Geoff Stults from Little Fires Everywhere, Laurie Davidson, Andre Hyland, Tiya Sircar and Alanna Ubach who you may recognise from Euphoria. Helming the project is writer and producer, Rebecca Addelman who brought us the dark TV comedy Dead to Me.

Streaming in ten, half-hour bites, Guilty Party follows maligned journalist Beth Burgess, played by Kate Beckinsale, as she tries to revive her career. Naturally, Burgess attaches herself to Toni Plimpton, a young mother that's just been convicted of murdering her husband despite Toni's unwavering stance that she is innocent. Plimpton is played by Jules Latimer, who will be making her TV debut in the series.

As Guilty Party unravels, Burgess attempts to clear Plimpton's name and uncover the truth about her husbands death; along the way she must contend with "Colorado gun-smugglers, clickbait culture (very threatening), the doldrums of marriage, and her own tarnished past" according to the Paramount+ logline. Meanwhile, we'll hopefully get to see a fleshed out and rounded portrait of Latimer's character: a first generation immigrant with a daughter and a love of "anime, drawing and tattooing." Expect scenes split between life in prison and flashbacks to Plimpton's past.

As reported by Deadlinedirector Rebecca Addelman intends on plunging into the 'white saviour' dynamic that inevitably emerges from Burgess and Plimpton's relationship. “As a creative team and myself as the creator, it’s something we’ve taken very seriously and have thought a lot about,” mused Addelman.

“It was very intentional decision-making on the show’s part to go at the idea of white savior-ism and to present what may seem like stereotypes initially and take those stereotypes and develop very real and very dimensional characters that evolve to truly unexpected boundary-breaking places. And that the relationship between Toni and Beth goes to a very emotional and deep unexpected place," she continued.

 

 

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The first two episodes of Guilty Party will be officially streamable on October 14 exclusively through Paramount+. From this point onwards, they'll drip feed us a new episode every Thursday; which means that for those, who like me, prefer to view TV in one long, uninterrupted gulp, we'll have to find another way to get our dose of serotonin.

Not content with waiting until October for a fresh TV series to take hold? Why not dive into any one of these feel good TV shows, they're guaranteed to deliver you some much need laughs.

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Images: @paramountplus