Scarpetta: Season One – Oh-Kay

It’s been right at a month since Amazon Prime Video rolled out its newest original series, “Scarpetta”. The high-profile forensic crime thriller is based on the iconic book series by Patricia Cornwell. After decades of anticipation, Cornwell fans, myself included, get our first adaptation of her most famous character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, on the screen.

The Story

The series unfolds across two timelines. Both follow Dr. Kay Scarpetta, but at different times in her career. While the story begins in 1998, the series opens with Dr. Scarpetta returning to her old stomping grounds, having returned to her position as the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia (sworn in by author Patricia Cornwell in a cameo appearance). The series jumps right into the action, bringing Dr. Scarpetta to a grisly murder that terrifyingly resembles her career-defining case from 28 years earlier.

The series then brings in the second timeline as we jump back to 1998, as Dr. Scarpetta becomes the newest Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia and begins to investigate a series of brutal stranglings. The series continues to jump back and forth between the dual narrative, introducing us to key characters, including Kay’s husband, Benton; her partner/investigator, Pete; her sister, Dorothy; and her niece, Lucy. All the while, we see the toll a lifetime around death begins to take on Kay as she begins to wonder if she put the wrong man away all those years ago.

Series Background

The first season of this series consists of eight episodes. Unique among today’s modern television, Season 2 was given the green light before the premiere of Season 1, with production beginning in March 2026, shortly after the Season 1 premiere. Also unique is that the dual timeline allows showrunner Liz Sarnoff to adapt two of Cornwell’s novels to tell the story. The 1998 timeline is heavily based on Cornwell’s first novel to feature Kay Scarpetta, Postmortem, and the present-day timeline adapts the 25th novel of the series, Autopsy. The adapting of both books in the Scarpetta series (currently at 29 books) allows Sarnoff to create a narrative bridge between the past and the present with the present case involving a suspect from the original Postmortem case.

Review

This series is off to a very good start. The team picked two really good stories within the Scarpetta series to adapt. The dual timeline offers a look at both modern tech and classic sleuthing. It’s clear that Amazon believed in this series and pulled out all the stops. Despite utilizing dual timelines, the series features a star-studded present-day cast as well as lesser-known but still amazing actors for the 1998 timeline. Nicole Kidman takes on the task of playing Dr. Scarpetta in the present-day timeline, with Rosy McEwen doing an amazing job as the 1998 version of Kay. Jaime Lee Curtis serves as the present version of Kay’s sister Dorothy, Simon Baker as Kay’s husband and FBI profiler Benton Wesley, and Ariana Debose as Lucy, Kay’s niece.

The dual timeline really works. The season is enjoyable and features some really solid forensic science as well as an in-depth look at Kay’s family dynamics. The show focuses heavily on its psychological complexity and isn’t afraid to show the reality of crime scenes and homicides. It is not for the faint of heart, with Prime offering realistic depictions of autopsies and homicide scenes. The utilization of the modern book Autopsy from 2024 allows the show to really highlight Lucy through the lens of technology and AI.

Final Thoughts

Scarpetta on Amazon Prime is a really good adaptation of Cornwell’s character. As good as it is, there is room for improvement. This show is a classic example of being harmed by an A-list cast. As good as the show is, when you realize how star-studded the cast is, you just feel like you want a little bit more. I highly recommend the show and that everyone check it out. However, when you see the cast, and you get to the end of season one, it leaves you wishing there was a little more. It feels like there’s another level this show can reach that it doesn’t quite get to in season one. Here’s hoping they can turn it up a notch in season 2.

Overall Grade: 4/5

What did you think about Scarpetta? Let me know in the comments below