Ten Days in the Valley

It’s an instantly engrossing show, made more tense by Sedgwick’s all-in performance of a woman losing a precarious grip on things.

One of the new season's better ones.

The show’s appeal rests on the fact that Jane is an enigma. As quick as she is to judge, to insist, to order, to remonstrate, who is she really? Sedgwick makes us want to know, even if we don’t always think we much like the character.

The premiere fails a few Believable Human Behavior tests, but it’s well-made enough that I could see anyone who got into stuff like “Secrets & Lies” engaging with it. And Sedgwick is always solid.

For the writing staff, working on material that strikes so close to home is surely cathartic, but that doesn't make an extended stay in this "Valley" more enticing.

Why ABC thinks American viewers will care about what happens to a TV scriptwriter who brings turmoil and heartbreak upon herself is beyond me. Maybe it’s the Kyra Sedgwick of it? Even “Closer” fans may have a hard time cozying up to this character.

Ten Days in the Valley tries to juggle a lot of different ideas, but very few aspects of this overwrought show work. The harder it tries to come off as serious and deep, the more this derivative drama is infused with an air of faintly ridiculous overreach. It’s a mess.