Lamar Reviews - "Scarpetta" (Airdate 3/20/2026)

Lamar Reviews - "Scarpetta" (Airdate 3/20/2026)

This is Amazon Prime’s newest whodunnit crime
drama based on a series of books written by
Patricia Cornwell. The Kay Scarpetta character is
based on Marcella Farinelli Fierro one of the first
women to be certified as a forensic pathologist
and she served as the Chief Medical Examiner of
Virginia from 1994 to 2008. She was known for
her crime solving using advanced forensic
technology, some of which she developed.
Patricia Cornwell spent time as an award winning
crime reporter and she is the author of 48 books
including 29 novels about Kay Scarpetta.
In this show there are two different mysteries and
two different timelines. Don’t worry, it’s not as
complicated as it sounds. The present timeline
has Nicole Kidman playing Kay Scarpetta,
returning to her old job after a long time away.
The other timeline in the late 90’s is a younger
Scarpetta, played by Rosy McEwen, taking the job
as chief medical examiner for the first time. She is
on the trail of a serial killer too.

McEwen matches Kidman’s mannerisms exactly,
down to how she lights and smokes the cigarettes.
Each present-day actor has a 90’s version. Jamie
Lee Curtis plays Kay’s over the top sister Dorothy.
The younger Dorothy is played by Amanda
Righetti who was in The Mentalist. Kay’s love
interest FBI agent Benton Wesley is played by
Simon Baker, who was The Mentalist. Present day
Homicide detective Pete Marino is played by
Bobby Cannavale, the 90’s version Marino is
played by his son Jake Cannavale.
The similarities and consistency make time travel
easy to follow and to believe.
It turns out that the case that Scarpetta is working
on now is connected to the case she solved 28
years ago that made her career, and the problem
is she might have been wrong.
There are eight episodes all dropped at once. 50
minutes each, Rated TV-MA for violence, sex,
nudity, language, alcohol, drugs, and smoking.
I’ve read probably half of the 29 books and loved
every one of them.

Everybody does a good job, but the chemistry
between Kay, Kidman and Dorothy, Jaimie Lee
Curtis is explosive. The murder of their father
when they were young affected them in two
different ways. It drove Kay to grow up and solve
crime, while Dorothy grew up to be a free-spirited
party animal that writes children’s books and let
Kay raise her daughter Lucy. They are polar
opposites and clash every time they are together
in a scene. And in every one of those scenes
Jaime Lee Curtis steals it, dominates it, and
controls it. And Nicole Kidman, holding her own,
still giving as good as she gets, lets her.
Their volatile relationship is a big part of the show,
and the murder cases keep you interested.
I don’t know what other readers of the Scarpetta
series feel about how the show compares to the
books. The books are always better, but I’m
satisfied with what they did.
I’ve enjoyed this season and am very excited
about the second season that is for sure coming.
My Score is 4 Buds

How did your favorite movie score on Lamar's scale? Find out!