Ridiculous twist throws Netflix’s ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ off the rails
nypost.comNetflix anthology series, written by TV veteran David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson and premiering April 15, is a standard “Did he or didn’t he?” tale involving British politician James Whitehouse (Rupert Friend), a high-level minister who’s accused by one of his staffers, Olivia Lytton (Naomi Scott), of raping her in a workplace elevator a week after breaking off their torrid five-month affair.
On the surface, James is a happily married father of two, devoted to his wife, Sophie (Sienna Miller) — they met as students at Oxford — and to his admiring constituency.
His best friend lives at 10 Downing Street: that’s British prime minister Tom Southern (Geoffrey Streetfeild), his drinking/carousing buddy from Oxford who, like James, comes from a spoiled background of privilege.
To wit: the rules apply to everyone but themselves and to their elitist cronies.James confesses his affair to Sophie, who’s more understanding than she should be (this rings false), but who believes her husband is not guilty of rape. “I was weak,” he tells her. “It was just sex.” He’s stripped of his ministry and pleads not guilty, and Sophie’s support of James starts to waver once his trial begins.
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