My Neighbor Stopped Closing The Blinds review

The setup

The narrator has a morning routine, and it involves the window across the way. His neighbor Bren has a husband, Doug, who works the night shift, and one day she catches the narrator looking and simply carries on. Later she confronts him, not angry but curious, and suggests she might enjoy the audience. Doug trudges in, announces he is going to bed and asks for quiet, which Bren promises with a straight face. She lays out the schedule, Doug asleep until noon, and invites the narrator over tomorrow.

Episode 2

He actually shows up, to Bren's visible pleasure, and she suggests opening with some stretching that she will demonstrate personally. The exercise is a flimsy pretext: she coaches his breathing and remarks on how stiff he is. He keeps asking about Doug, and she promises the husband has two more hours on shift. Naturally, Doug picks today to come home early, and Bren's answer to the front door is to have the narrator stretch out flat and keep silent.

Who's who

• Bren: the married neighbor, unhurried, amused and very clear about her husband's hours
• The narrator: a habitual window-watcher who gets caught and, somehow, rewarded for it
• Doug: Bren's husband, who works nights and sleeps through everything that matters

Verdict: 5.8 out of 10

Tight and efficient, Episode 1 covers the peeping, the confrontation, the husband and the invitation in about a minute, which is either admirable economy or a sign there was not much to say. Bren's crack about looking costing nothing is the closest thing to wit here. The husband's schedule gives the premise a built-in clock, a smart touch, and episode 2 promptly breaks it by sending Doug home early. That is the most predictable twist available, but it leaves the free run on a tense note.

Episode guide