Watching Apple TV's Imperfect Women is like being transported out of your own life, and being jet propelled into the captivating, messy world of people with far more exciting lives than your own.
Who cares if you have to suspend your disbelief here and there - isn't that what TV is about? In fact, escapist shows like Imperfect Women come with the expectation that some of it will be unbelievable - the more absurd the better, I'd say.
Actually, while the eight-part series based on Araminta Hall's 2020 novel of the same name has been compared to the likes of Big Little Lies and All Her Fault, it does have moments of excellent depth among the glossy release from everyday life.
Mary (Elisabeth Moss,) Eleanor (Kerry Washington,) and Nancy (Kate Mara,) are more modern than their cute, vintage names would suggest, and have been best friends for 25 years.
Early on, and this is not a spoiler, Nancy is murdered. The series doesn't even take long to work out who did it - the show is less murder mystery if that's what you're hoping for, but more a character study of the effects of grief and complexities of friendship.
It's easy to see from the opening moments that this grief when one of their number dies, will hit our leading ladies hard.
During an atmospheric voice-over setting the scene, Kerry Washington's Eleanor tells viewers that what the trio have is far more than friendship. "It's kinship from deep in our souls," she shares, earnestly.
Not only that, Eleanor uses words like "powerful" and "essential" to talk about their bond, indicating a level of interdependency and possible obsession with each other.
This is where the cast of acting royalty are extremely useful - they bring their A-game to the full impact of the fallout when one of their tight crew is suddenly and eternally absent.
And for women who recognise being in a similar friendship group, feelings as strong as the ones Eleanor describes are inevitably going to come at a price - you can't be that completed by your friends without moments of equally intense animosity towards them when messy love lives and midlife obligations get in the way of just being straight-up besties all the time.
Poor, dead Nancy was having an affair before her brutal demise. Even though the astonishing display of her wealth is on show at multiple opportunities, she's a bored home-maker and needed some excitement.
Mary is a mother-of-four. Bright and capable, she is now reduced to equally boring suburbia and seems restless and on edge (probably something to do with her possibly threatening husband.)
While Mary offers the facade of being the perfect, doting parent to her friends, Nancy doesn't want her to know about the affair, fearing her judgment.
This is the first, small secret to fracture Mary and Eleanor's relationship when Nancy dies and Mary finds out she's been kept in the dark about something huge - the secrets get bigger, juicier, and bring the much-needed thrilling shocks as the show progresses.
Equally as thrilling as the friendship and complicated lives reveals are the backdrops to them. It might seem massively unlikely that Eleanor can afford her frankly stunning apartment on her non-profit aid agency salary, but who doesn't enjoy gawping at beautiful interiors from their own, possibly standard front rooms?
If she lived in a grotty bedsit, we'd be looking at a different show entirely. Let's keep our minds on the escapism here.
Nancy's funeral is similarly lavish - there's so many flowers it looks like the organisers raided every flower market in the country to fill the church. There's no wonder Mary's confused daughter asks where the bride is.
There was a brief, very tense moment for me when Nancy's daughter Cora walked into the church, because the actress (Audrey Zahn) looks identical to Kate Mara - I thought the series really had fallen into absurdity by suddenly introducing a 'Nancy has a secret twin' unnecessary storyline.
I just had to Google whether Kate Mara and Audrey Zahn were related in real life instead (they aren't, for anyone interested.) By this time in the show, you'll be truly invested and wouldn't switch off even if the secret twin thing happened.
So, what we have here is a lavish, fairly polished, utterly absorbing TV series you can lose yourself in. Don't take any notice of the negative reviews, because if you want a true, acclaimed character study series, you can always watch Mad Men or The Sopranos instead.
Add it to your watch list.
Imperfect Women is streaming on Apple TV from March 18.
