By Eva Rodericks

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You may have recently seen Behind Her Eyes on the Netflix trending page, and itÔÇÖs popular for a reason. *spoilers ahead*

The story centres around Louise Barnes (Simona Brown), a single mother who works part time as a secretary in a small psychiatry clinic in London. Things get complicated for Louise very quickly, as she enters an unusual love triangle, with her new boss and his wife.

After being upstaged in a bar, Louise bumps into stereotypical Scottish hunk, Dr. David Ferguson (Tom Bateman). The pair hit it off straight away, until Louise finds out he is married, and the next day discovers he is her new boss. Seemingly coincidentally, but nevertheless strange, Louise bumps into Adele (Eve Hewson), DavidÔÇÖs wife, outside her son’s school. The two develop a strange and slightly desperate friendship.

The lines between who is sane and who is insane become blurred straight away, a homage to life in the 21st century. Adele is a mysterious character, with a troubled past (and present), who initially appears a victim to her husband. David feeds her a concoction of pills, controls her and loses his temper – but something deeper than an abusive husband is bubbling under the surface. The audience is never quite sure who the antagonist is, and thatÔÇÖs what kept me watching.

Much of our understanding of AdeleÔÇÖs past is gathered through flashbacks, and they always feature her friend Rob, who she meets in their time in a secure mental institution. It is in these moments we learn about AdeleÔÇÖs unusual power to control her dreams and one step further, she can astrally project. Astral projection is an out of body experience which allows you to travel anywhere you can visualise – this is how Adele has been spying on Louise.

In the last episode we discover, rather unexpectedly, that Rob and Adele used astral projection to swap bodies years ago, but Adele never planned for it to stay like that. This sci-fi twist means Behind Her Eyes escapes being a forgettable, stereotypical drama.

Nevertheless, some interpretations have highlighted the problematic dynamics of the body swapping. Rob is the one gay character in the show, who forcibly swaps bodies with heterosexual women, twice, feeding into damaging stereotypes that homosexual men are predatory.

But I think there is another important reading of the body swapping, which illuminates the extreme effects of poverty. Rob is a heroin addict living in his sisterÔÇÖs cramped flat in Glasgow, and hasnÔÇÖt got two pennies to rub together. He tells Adele his happiest days have been in the institution, with her. It is apparent how much he genuinely loves Adele, but his desperation runs so much deeper. When he knows he can escape his life back in Glasgow, it seems the overwhelming despair kicks in. We can then infer that all of ÔÇÿAdeleÔÇÖsÔÇÖ flashbacks always feature Rob, because theyÔÇÖre RobÔÇÖs memories.

By the end of the series it appears to be Louise and David who fall on the favoured side of the dichotomies presented. But the good vs evil, and sanity vs insanity explored across the six episodes could not be concluded as starkly as that. In marrying Louise (with RobÔÇÖs consciousness inside of her) David appears as the image of perfection, but DavidÔÇÖs character is complicated, bound up in guilt, secrecy and alcoholism. We should be wary to think he is stable and recovered.

Some of the attention the series has gained may be attributed to actress Eve Hewson’s famous father – Bono.

The exploration of dreams in the series are very relevant to current times; many feel stuck in the nightmare, and are looking for an escape, even if it is just a fantasy. I would recommend watching this series to create your own getaway.