The Watchful Eye is a thriller series that aired on Freeform starring Warren Christie, Amy Acker, and Mariel Molino.
Six months after the sudden suicide of his wife Allie, wealthy architect Matthew Ward hires young Elena Santos to serve as a nanny to his young son Jasper in the old and sumptuous Greybourne building. Unbeknownst to him, Elena is a con artist and thief who took the job in the hopes of finding a ruby that's supposedly hidden somewhere in the building. However, the Greybourne has many secrets, and Elena may be in over her head.
The show was canceled
in June 2023 after one season.
This series contains examples of:
- Alpha Bitch: Tory Ayres, Matthew's sister-in-law and Jasper's aunt, is not a pleasant person. In the first episode, she almost fires Elena for saving Jasper after he runs into traffic, because Elena failed to anticipate that he'd run into traffic in the first place.
- Antagonistic Offspring: Elena has a very bad relationship with her mother, who is currently serving time for a con that went sideways.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Darcy turns out to be a selfish witch who forged the notes from Allie accusing Matthew of her murder and openly laughs at Elliot thinking she ever cared for him. And the reason why? "I was bored."
- The Clan: The Greybourne-Winthrop family tree is a large, gnarly clan concentrated almost entirely within the Greybourne complex and includes Greybournes, the Winthrops, the Ayreses, the Wards, and at least one Ivey.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mrs. Ivey has a very dry wit. When Elena tries to butter her up with some pastries, Ivey snarks on how appropriate they are for an elderly diabetic.
- Dirty Cop: Elena's boyfriend and accomplice Scott is a cop who moonlights as a thief.
- Entertainingly Wrong: The entire first season revolves around Elena looking for the "priceless ruby" she heard the Greybournes had. In Episode 8, she finally discovers that "Ruby" was the daughter of an affair between Alistar and his nanny Jocelyn. Elena and Scott can't believe they've wasted all this time looking for a nonexistent gem.
- Never Suicide: Mrs. Ivey does not believe that her niece simply committed suicide, and enlists Elena to watch Matthew and find out if he was involved.
- Properly Paranoid: In "The Nanny Vanishes", Elena discovers cameras hidden throughout the Greybourne, and tries to discuss this with Alex and Kim. They chide her for actually thinking that her wealthy boss wouldn't have some sort of monitoring system set up in his apartment; they've long resigned themselves to the thought that they're always being watched when they're on the clock.
- The Reveal: Charlotte is actually Ruby, the daughter of maid Jocelyn who was killed with Alister and raised as a Greybourne.
