I believe that we have been trained to react to hearing startling news in a particular way, and we certainly have learned how to consume true crime, whether it be in a documentary or in a fictional storyline. DTF St. Louis could’ve been a standard true crime yarn, and it could’ve been a typical drama about disliking your life. For those who haven’t yet caught up with this HBO contender, I am happy to report that takes all of your expectations and throws them out the window. You spend a lot of time wondering how other people might be happy as you gaze into their lives, and no one epitomizes that more than Joy Sunday in her portrayal of Jodie Plumb. If something violent or confusing happened to me, I would hope that someone like her would look out for me.
I couldn’t shake Sunday’s eyes as I encountered her throughout Steve Conrad’s examination of contemporary male friendship. When she enters a crime scene or does research, she looks at things differently from everyone else on the scene. There’s a patience there that differs from the other men gathering information. As she begins working with Richard Jenkins’ Donoghue Homer, we see that he is making assumptions over Floyd’s death, but she pushes to look deeper while not declaring that Homer’s tactics are wrong or outdated. Surely, there are things that Jodie can learn from Homer’s years of expertise in the field, but she can also impact a level of empathy and tolerance that he might not automatically bring to an investigation.
We get glimpses into Jodie’s home life that feel different from other relationships within the confines of DTF‘s world. Most of the marriages are experiencing a sense of ennui or suburban malaise, but Jodie and her partner, Glenn, are so open with each other that they can observe just how many Indiana Jones spitroasts the web has to offer when the investigation only assumes that Floyd had a certain fetish. Jodie is then able to bring these observations into the construction of Floyd’s death. She looks at every angle but never judges anyone’s background or taste, as if Sunday ingrained in Jodie a proclivity for understanding that no one else has thought to consider.
Do not mistake Jodie’s ability to connect with a lack of perspective. She stands up to Linda Cardellini’s Carol when she sense bullshit and she is open to collaboration in order to get to the truth. Since David Harbour’s character is learning so much about himself in his final months, I couldn’t help but wonder what kinds of conversations he and Jodie would have if they were given a chance to speak. Sunday takes a moment to consider this at the end of our conversation.
Sunday has created a character that doesn’t look towards an investigation’s end as it begins. Jodie wants to expand on the truth and not just discover it. In Sunday’s hands, Jodie wants to unearth who they are and not simply just what has happened to them.
DTF St. Louis is streaming now on HBO Max.
