Sam Heughan’s ‘The Couple Next Door’ Fails to Deliver on Thrills

LEEDS, England — Sam Heughan, best known for his role as Jamie Fraser in Starz‘s Outlander, takes on a new challenge in the psychological thriller The Couple Next Door. The six-part series, which premiered on Starz on January 17, 2025, explores the tangled relationships between two couples in a suburban neighborhood. Despite a promising premise and a star-studded cast, the show struggles to maintain its initial intrigue, ultimately falling short of expectations.

The series follows Evie Greenwood (Eleanor Tomlinson), a primary school teacher, and her journalist partner, Pete Thomas (Alfred Enoch), as they move to an upscale Leeds suburb. Their lives quickly intertwine with their neighbors, Danny (Sam Heughan), a traffic cop, and Becka (Jessica De Gouw), a yoga instructor with a thriving social media presence. The couples’ relationships grow increasingly complex as secrets, jealousy, and non-traditional lifestyles come to light.

While the show initially builds tension around the evolving dynamics between the four leads, it falters in its execution. “The Couple Next Door has a lot of promise, especially when it focuses on the tangled relationships between its main foursome,” one critic noted. However, the series is bogged down by poorly developed subplots, including Danny’s illegal side jobs and Becka’s stalker, which detract from the central narrative.

Heughan, who delivers a brooding performance as Danny, is underutilized, with his character often relegated to little more than a handsome presence. Similarly, Tomlinson’s Evie, initially portrayed as a woman exploring her desires, devolves into a caricature by the season’s end. “Evie’s fixation on Danny intensifies, but her later scenes devolve into stereotypical ’80s territory,” a review stated.

The show’s finale, which attempts to tie together its various threads, feels rushed and overly dramatic. “The season quickly becomes derailed by less intriguing subplots and disappointing character regression,” another critic observed. Despite its flaws, The Couple Next Door has been renewed for a second season, though it remains to be seen whether it can redeem its initial missteps.

Directed by Dries Vos and written by David Allison, the series originally aired in the UK in late 2023. While it offers moments of intrigue, its reliance on outdated tropes and uneven pacing leave much to be desired. For fans of Heughan and psychological dramas, The Couple Next Door may still hold some appeal, but it ultimately fails to deliver on its potential.