Spoilers from The Five Star Weekend (book and series) ahead!
As book-to-screen adaptations go, I really liked The Five Star Weekend. Bekah Brunstetter's adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's novel hit all of the right notes, while also making enough changes here and there to keep me interested from start to finish. Yes, I watched all eight episodes of the series (available with a Peacock subscription) in a matter of days when it arrived on the 2026 TV schedule, and after giving it some thought, there's one specific change that the show made that I think I really love more than how it happens in the book.
I've said it before, but as someone who loves to read the book before seeing the adaptation, I really don't mind when changes are made, especially if it's in service of the plot and character development. In the case of The Five Star Weekend, I went into the series hoping for certain aspects of the adaptation to do the book justice, and they really did. A few of the bigger changes from the book involved Hollis' daughter, Caroline (Harlow Jane), and while I was pretty neutral on two of them, the more I think about one, the more I love it.
Caroline Needed To Find Out About Her Father
I didn't mind that Caroline's career path changed from book to screen, or that the story of her affair with her mentor was dropped. The series didn't need that arc to make her role in the show impactful. Given how everything did play out in the show, I think it was the right call to have her find out the truth about her father's affair, both for her sake and her mother's.
In the book, Caroline doesn't find out, which is how Hollis wants it. Though Hollis learns of her husband's affair with Gigi through a different series of events in the book, the TV show maintains Jennifer Garner's character's protectiveness of her daughter and wish to keep the truth about Matthew from her. I like that the adaptation maintained that aspect of Hollis' character, while also finding a way of bringing the truth to light for Caroline.
Hollis Needed To Be More Honest With Her Loved Ones About What's Going On In Her Life
I'm not of the mindset that Caroline "deserves" to learn the truth about her father, to be clear. I don't think Matthew (Josh Hamilton) was some kind of monster because he was unfaithful to his wife, nor do I think people need to know every detail about their parents or their marriage. But in this case, finding out about the affair led to two good outcomes.
The first is that it allowed Caroline to confront her mother about how she's always trying to protect her and pretending like things are ok when they aren't. As we saw throughout the series, Hollis has a way of trying to present herself as fine, even when she isn't. Understandably, she'd do this with her daughter, who's barely out of adolescence, but Caroline finding out on her own and addressing it with her mother allowed her to rip the barely-adhered bandage off of Hollis' grief, confusion and anger over Matthew's affair, and see it for what it is.
Of course Hollis wants to protect Caroline, but she also needs to learn to be more honest about her feelings, particularly with her daughter, and this was a key opportunity to do that.
As Harsh As The Truth Is, Caroline Needed To Know
The other good thing to come from this is that it allowed Caroline to be with her mother in all of those emotions, so they can process them together. It may be a lot for a young adult to have to deal with, and I can still see why Hollis would wish Caroline didn't have to carry around this knowledge, as it'll surely impact how she thinks about her father. At the same time, these two women are alive and trying to move forward. With this situation out in the open, they can grieve without any secrets. I can only view that as a good thing.
The Flashback In The Car
I'll close this topic out by bringing up one of the flashback scenes, when Caroline, Hollis and Matthew are all in the car together, and Caroline is talking about how she envisions her parents moving forward in their lives after she leaves home. In retrospect, the scene had a lot more going on than I realized.
I was more focused on Hollis' reaction to Matthew receiving the text from "G," and her evident denial, but looking back, it also occurred to me that this scene shows how Caroline sees her parents at this point in her life, which was not so long ago. She's innocently oblivious and believes that they'll be happy and in love until the day they die. I think that's pretty normal for someone her age, on the verge of adulthood and about to leave home.
Given time, even if her father hadn't died, Caroline would've come to learn that her parents aren't stationary beings, nor are they perfect, and neither is their marriage. It's tragic that she had to learn this life lesson such a harsh way, but the more I think about it, the more the scene in the car helped me to better understand Caroline's resentment toward her mother for trying to move forward with her life after Matthew's death. She had this idea about what her parents were, and seeing her mother now doesn't line up with her part of that picture.
As great as it might be for her to live the rest of her life believing her parents' marriage was perfect, maybe knowing the truth about it is what's best for her in the long run, and for the relationship she has with her mother going forward. At the very least, she can process the situation with all of the pieces in place, and appreciate her family for what it really was, even if it wasn't always as perfect as she once thought. I liked how Caroline's story in the book played out, but given how things went for her in the show, I really liked how things wrapped up for her and her mother.
