Say Nothing Review

It’s not possible to tell the entire complex history of The Troubles in a single nine-episode limited series. It’s not even possible to adapt the entirety of Patrick Radden Keefe’s searingly interesting 2018 book, “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland” into a nine-episode limited series. But the series Josh Zetumer and his writing staff put together – titled Say Nothing – offers a clear story, compelling performances, and an unsettling resolution that provides more moral questions than answers. It’s about as good of an effort as one could hope for – and will hopefully inspire viewers to give the source material a look, allowing them to dive deeper into this turbulent time in Irish history and help them to draw some additional conclusions.

The series puts the focus of the tale onto five individuals, allowing the potentially sprawling story to feel more focused and, in a way, more human. With the through-line of the disappearance of Jean McConville (a great Judith Roddy) at the heart of the narrative (just what happened to the mother of ten after she was taken from her apartment one evening, accused of being a “tout” and working with the British against the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is the open question propelling the story from its opening moments until its close), we see how the actions of our four other central characters not only impacted her fate but how their actions furthered the efforts of the IRA and led to massive shifts in public opinion about the organization and their actions.

Brendan “Dark” Hughes (Anthony Boyle in his 20s, Tom Vaughn-Lawlor in his later years) is a revolutionary beloved within the IRA but who becomes increasingly disillusioned with his friend and leader Gerry Adams (Josh Finan and Michael Colgan share the role) as Adams becomes more overtly political and distances himself from the IRA.* And then there are the Price sisters – Dolours (the exceptional Lola Petticrew and Maxine Peake) and Marian (Hazel Doupe and Helen Behan) – raised in an IRA family and the truest of true believers who see their paths split and their beliefs in conflict as they age. It’s Dolours who, eventually, becomes our central figure, as she participates in the Belfast Project, an oral history project through Boston College – which turns out to be less secure than promised to its participants. While the series is great at letting us understand the motivations of its characters, the writing does get a tad murky late in the series, insinuating that while Dolours (and Brendan, who also participated in the Project) felt some of the IRA’s actions were justified, others might not have been – but her true reason for becoming, essentially, a tout, was her anger over Adam’s refusal to admit to his time in the IRA.

*Every episode of the series ends with a title card stating that Gerry Adams continues to deny that he was ever a member of the IRA. And, in episodes that deal directly with Jean McConville, that he denies having anything to do with her disappearance and death. An incredibly damning set of statements to read after watching episode after episode detailing his actions within the organization – something corroborated by the oral histories of multiple individuals. But draw your own conclusions.

The series is unflinching in depicting both the actions of the IRA – which include the abduction and murder of members believed to be British double agents, with no word ever provided to their families as to where their bodies ended up, along with the infamous 1973 Old Bailey bombing, in which both Price sisters were arrested, convicted, and sent to a men’s prison – and the British – whose treatment of the Price sisters sparked the pair to embark on a hunger strike*, which resulted in the use of force-feeding to keep the pair alive –  so that no one here comes out looking like the winners, or even the morally superior side. Yes, the British were, in the eyes of the Irish (and still are to many) an occupying force preventing the unification of Ireland. And the treatment of Irish Catholics was atrocious. But murder? Assassination attempts? Kidnappings? Car bombs? Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed? When is it too far? The series asked that question of several of its characters but never comes to a complete answer – which, perhaps, is the right answer.

*It should be noted that the Price sisters weren’t the first imprisoned IRA members to embark on hunger strikes and weren’t the last. Keefe’s book gets deeper into the practice, including the death of Bobby Sands, a member of the IRA who died after 66 days in 1981.

It’s rare that a series is able to tackle a complex and thorny subject with as much grace as Say Nothing manages – buoyed by strong writing, a clear narrative arc, and stellar performances (one of the few English actors in the project, Peake is utterly compelling in her scenes, building on Petticrew’s excellent work in the role), the series is a must watch in my book. And then, hopefully, you’ll do yourself a favor and pop over to the bookstore or library and snag a copy of Keefe’s book to learn a bit more about this era.

Say Nothing is currently streaming in its entirety on Hulu.