Harlan Coben’s books have been adapted into several different limited series, with the majority of the author’s works now housed on Netflix. However, the best of Harlan Coben’s TV shows is still Safe, which was one of his first. The show takes place in a rural town in England, where a widowed man named Tom is charged with looking after his two young daughters after their mother’s death. But when one of his girls goes missing, Tom’s world falls apart, and he uncovers the secrets of his gated community.
Harlan Coben has written some of the most engaging and entertaining crime novels of the last few decades, with countless awards and accolades to his name – but not all of his books have translated well to the screen. He’s the master of weaving together complex characters and hidden motivations in a way that makes his novels incredibly compelling and easy to read, but this hasn’t always been the case with his shows. His latest show Missing You was given a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score, placing even more pressure on his upcoming series.
Safe Is One Of The Highest-Rated Harlan Coben Adaptations On Netflix
The Mystery Series Was A Critical Hit
Safe was released seven years ago, and it’s still one of the best Harlan Coben adaptations according to metrics such as Rotten Tomatoes. The show has an audience score of 74% and a critics’ score of 71%, which is very impressive when compared with the scores for his other shows. Fool Me Once landed an audience score of 45%, while Missing You is even lower at 28%. There’s a level of tight storytelling and compelling performances in Safe that just can’t be found in his other shows, despite the excellent books they’re based on.
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8 Biggest Changes Netflix’s Missing You Makes To Harlan Coben’s Book
Netflix’s Missing You is based on Harlan Coben’s best-selling novel of the same name, but it makes some significant changes to the source material.
As an author, Coben is very talented at forging stories that are both compelling on a surface level while surreptitiously planting seeds for the major twists at the end. That’s exactly what worked about Safe, as every episode had its own engaging mysteries to solve. However, the main problem with his most recent shows is that they’re so busy planting the seeds for mind-blowing twists that they forget to give the audience a tangible reason to care about the story. Shows like Fool Me Once made huge diversions from the book, which only worked against it.
Safe’s Central Mystery Is Still One Of Harlan Coben’s Best
The Show Has Tantalizing Writing And Unpredictable Twists
Ultimately, the reason why Safe stands out as the best Harlan Coben TV show is very simple: it has the most compelling mystery. The concept of a father looking for his lost daughter is so grounded in reality that it’s incredibly easy to root for him. It doesn’t have the sprawling conspiracies of shows like Fool Me Once or the notable coincidences of Missing You; it’s just a simple mystery about a missing girl that’s written very well. Interestingly, Safe is not based on one of Coben’s books – furthering the idea that his novels simply don’t translate to screen well.
Michael C. Hall is brilliant as Tom, bringing the perfect amount of compassion and vulnerability while also making it clear that his character has secrets of his own.
Additionally, Safe has some of the most engaging performances of Coben’s TV career. Michael C. Hall is brilliant as Tom, bringing the perfect amount of compassion and vulnerability, while also making it clear that his character has secrets of his own. Amanda Abbington is also a standout, with her mysterious detective Sophie playing a fascinating role in the story. The characterization is clearly the best of Coben’s shows, and that manifests in the series’ great cast.
Safe Was A Great Way For Michael C. Hall To Follow Up Dexter Before New Blood
The Two Characters Have A Surprising Amount In Common
While Dexter had many great episodes and ended up being a fantastic show, it’s understandable that lead actor Michael C. Hall would want to create some distance between himself and the project after so many years. Safe was the perfect opportunity for him to do that, giving him a character that was both different and familiar, allowing him to break free of the conventions of the role he’d been playing for so long.
Safe’s protagonist Tom is an extremely complex character, and it’s hard to imagine anybody else playing this kind of role. Although he spends most of Safe’s runtime searching for the “villain” that kidnapped his daughter, he’s also got his own secrets and ulterior motives – just like in Dexter. This familiarity gives a whole new dimension to his character, and in a kind of meta-textual way, immediately lets the audience know that Tom may not be exactly as he seems. This extra layer of Safe is just another reason why it’s one of Harlan Coben’s best TV shows to date.
Safe is a mystery drama television series created by Harlan Coben. The show stars Michael C. Hall as Tom Delaney, a widowed surgeon searching for his missing teenage daughter within a gated community. As Tom delves deeper into the disappearance, he uncovers a web of dark secrets about the seemingly perfect neighborhood.
- Release Date
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May 10, 2018
- Creator(s)
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Harlan Coben
- Seasons
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1