The One begins with the sci-fi premise that DNA can be used to match you up with your one true love. It uses that premise to tell a complex story about power, greed, love, murder, and corruption. This series from the UK is streaming on Netflix.
In The One, a geneticist named James (Dimitri Leonidas) discovers something in the DNA of ants. His friend and fellow researcher Rebecca Webb (Hannah Ware) thinks the principle could apply to humans. If it did, it could bring true love and happiness to millions of people.
To test her hypothesis, Rebecca needs lots of DNA. She steals a database of DNA information from her flatmate Ben (Amir El-Masry).
Within this database, she finds her own match: Matheus (Albano Jerónimo). Matheus is a surfer living in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Hardly someone Rebecca Webb, Ph.D. scientist, would have picked on her own. She goes to Tenerife to meet him and the two promptly fall in love.
This proves Rebecca’s theory. She uses her stolen information to start a company called The One. You send in your DNA and when a match is found you are notified as to who it is.
Money and DNA samples start pouring in. Everyone wants to find their match. Rebecca began the company with an illegal act, and she’s none too shy about lying, bribing, blackmailing, and murdering to keep it going.
A police detective, Kate (Zoë Tapper), is the main opponent to Rebecca and her illegal ways. Kate knows Rebecca has done a number of illegal things but can’t prove any of them. The police investigation into the operations of The One is the major secondary plot in this interwoven mystery.
Other subplots bring in many individuals and couples who are dealing with the psychological fallout from knowing who your match is. Marriages, families, and relationships rise and fall from the ashes of finding your match.
Kate finds her match, a Portuguese woman named Sophia (Jana Pérez). Kate is surprised her match is a woman, although she’s dated women before. Kate’s bisexuality is established early and becomes important later on. Her difficult relationship with Sophia proceeds as she continues investigating the company run by Rebecca that made finding her match possible.
Hannah (Lois Chimimba) is married to Mark (Eric Kofi-Abrefa). They are happy together, but Hannah is anxious about losing Mark. She sends in a sample of his DNA and finds out that his match is someone else. Hannah seeks out the woman, Megan (Pallavi Sharda), and tries to figure out why Mark would be her match without letting either of them know what she’s doing. As you can imagine, this turns into a mess.
Megan soon discovers what’s going on. She thinks Hannah is standing in the way of her being with her match.
James, the original researcher, is dismayed by what Rebecca does in pursuit of her goal to find a match for everyone. James tries to distance himself from her and the company he helped begin. He gets pulled into Rebecca’s orbit of intrigue and danger again and again. He has the evidence that could put Rebecca in jail.
The psychological breakdown in people when they found their match was interesting to watch. I appreciated the way the camera was akimbo at times to indicate that a person’s world was off kilter.
I thought the costumes for Hannah Ware were brilliantly done. As a young researcher she had flowing brown hair and wore casual clothing. As her business grew and her number of crimes mounted, her hair was dyed black and pulled back in a severe bun. She wore only plain pant suits, but the pants were so oversized that it was like nothing was inside. She was holding herself together through will and determination, while her true self went missing.
The series had 8 episodes, 3 of which were directed by Catherine Morshead. It ended with perfect twists and an opening for a second season in which Kate would continue to pursue Rebecca in hopes of arresting her.
Take a look at the trailer.
What do you think? Will you watch this one?