Family Dysfunction is on Full Display in 'MaryLand's Premiere

Anyone who has ever experienced the death of a parent knows that the loss can bring all the deep-rooted family dynamics to bear—long-simmering sibling rivalry bubbles to the surface. Decades of hurt and anger have no place to hide. Despite the mysterious opening moments of a man discovering a dead body on the beach, family dysfunction is the true undercurrent of the new PBS series MaryLand.

In the pilot episode of this three-part series, which aired on ITV last year, the characters are not quite estranged but definitely not chummy sisters. Becca (Suranne Jones) and Rosaline (Eve Best) learn that their mother has died. Becca is in the middle of getting her children breakfast and off to school. She’s dealing with a petulant teen daughter who has been suspended for vaping. Rosaline is in the middle of a post-surgical appointment. She’s got her laptop and is watching a workout video as the nurse checks the dressing and tells her she will get her results in five to seven days.

Rosaline ignores Becca’s phone call from Becca but eventually calls her back. The police have called Becca because they haven’t been able to reach their father, who now needs to be told that his wife has died. “I’m 200 miles away, Becca; I can’t do it over the phone,” Rosaline says. Becca tells her dad, who says he cannot go with them to the Isle of Man to identify the body.