Later in their lives, Dolours and Hughes both chose to conduct interviews with Boston College’s Belfast Project; the show recreates these interviews as its framing device. Others stayed tight-lipped. Northern Irish politician Gerry Adams (Josh Finan/Michael Colgan) has long been accused of being an IRA leader; “Say Nothing” certainly depicts him as one. But to this day, he still officially denies that charge. Even the series’ solution to Jean McConville’s murder is Keefe’s educated guess because anyone who knows the truth hasn’t spilled it.
“Say Nothing,” as the title of Keefe’s book claims, is a story about memory — but memories and recorded history are incomplete, so we often have to settle for stories. Keefe assembled these scattered memories of Northern Ireland’s Troubles into a story. Even a much poorer writer than him could’ve captured the suspense and drama of this tale, but his stirring writing was the perfect blueprint for “Say Nothing” to be dramatized.
Of course, when it came to that dramatization, it was out of Keefe’s hands and in just as capable ones belonging to the show’s cast and crew. The younger stars like Petticrew, Doupe, and Boyle (carrying his scenes with chest-pumping charisma) are especially impressive. All three are Irish (Petticrew and Boyle hail from the North), so they bring extra authenticity to their roles.
Petticrew and Doupe are the glue that hold “Say Nothing” together, their performances complementing each other like the Price sisters do. The elder sister Dolours is initially the pluckier leader, but as the story goes on, she succumbs to disillusionment. Marian, on the other hand, never abandons her radicalization. Despite the sisters’ differences, their mutual devotion is unshakeable, especially in the sixth episode, “Do No Harm,” when they’re imprisoned and hunger striking together. In a just world, both would be up for acting Emmys.
“Say Nothing” also honors time and place through its soundtrack, something Keefe obviously didn’t have to worry about. In “Land of Password, Wink, and Nod,” “Big Time” by ’70s Belfast band Rudi plays as the Price sisters run away from their bank robbery. Episode director Lennox stages the robbery itself with unease, emphasizing the girls’ clumsiness as criminals. It’s only as they run home free that excitement, and the appropriate music, hits. Conversely, in episode 5, “Evil Little Maniacs,” the ominous (and anachronistic) folk song “Devil’s Spoke” by Laura Marling plays as the Prices prepare to bomb London.
Though “Say Nothing” the TV series stands on the shoulders of real history and its source material, it did a magnificent job adapting both — enough so that it deserved more recognition by the Emmys.
“Say Nothing” is streaming on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ elsewhere.
