The new Netflix original series “The One,” released on Mar. 12, follows the story of Rebecca Weber and her company MatchDNA. Created by Howard Overman and based on the eponymous novel, “The One” explores what life would be like if everyone had a perfect love match based on DNA. Along with the premise of “what if…?” that the show tackles, the series also explores characters who are essential to showing what the world would be like if DNA matching truly existed.
While the show is marketed as one that is focused on love, the first scene contradicts this. We see what seems to be a rescue team discovering a dead body from the bottom of the river. As the episodes progress, the viewer learns that this body is that of Rebecca’s old friend, Ben, with whom she had a momentary sexual relationship with. We also learn that she caused his death. Therefore, the majority of Rebecca’s plot follows her trying to lead the police off of her track, while also keeping up her perfect image as CEO of MatchDNA.
In terms of the other characters, they all seem to connect to Rebecca in some way or another. Journalist Mark (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) and his wife Hannah (Lois Chimimba) have a great relationship. However, they are not each other’s matches. So, Hannah decides to find Mark’s match by taking a piece of his hair and submitting it into the system. She befriends his match, which leads to a lot of issues. Subsequently, Mark connects with Rebecca as he interviews and reports on her business ventures with the company.
Kate (Zoë Tapper), is a cop who is investigating Rebecca and the company in connection with Ben’s death. She is also matched with an Italian woman who, when going to London to visit Kate for the first time, gets into an accident and is hospitalized. While in the hospital, Kate realizes that her match, Sophia (Jana Pérez), is married. This gives Kate her own side plot, yet the majority of her presence is to help progress Rebecca’s own story.
Because of the multiple characters that surround Rebecca and her story, the show is never really stagnant. There are always moving parts, and if there is a lull in one character’s story, another character’s plot picks up the energy. With that being said, there are some points in the show that are very repetitive. It seems like the show tries too hard to keep the aforementioned energy up, leading the plot to go in circles every episode. To summarize, Rebecca tries to keep her company out of the public eye while also attempting to save her own image. Yet, something throws her off course and she is stuck in the middle of a rock and a hard place. This scenario leads to the predictability of the show, even though it was made to be a murder mystery that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats.. Therefore, while Rebecca is an intriguing character, the repetitive plot takes away from her identity. As a result, episodes of “The One” can feel as though they are running in place even as the series progresses.
“The One” is available to stream on Netflix.
By Audrey Shaev