[…]

In subsequent stories, Marla Clayton (Samaria Graham) will have to come to terms with her widowed mother’s pending remarriage, and Diane Dravecki (Jorjan Fox) will battle against slipping back into crack addiction.

Beneath the usual television gloss there’s a new grittiness, evident even in the casting, which clearly has tried to avoid stereotypically pretty new faces. Some of the actors, especially the intriguingly offbeat Ms. Fox, impressively convey the value of pure talent.

[…]