Wayward Pines 1.01 Review: There's No Place Like Here

With the official premiere of the ten-episode event series Wayward Pines this week, in an episode entitled ‘Where Paradise Is Home’, a whole onslaught of questions has been introduced to the television audience that had the pleasure of watching it. This is a series that has started off introducing a lead character we can’t quite trust (in the past Matt Dillon’s Ethan had hallucinations due to his guilt towards some kind of Easter bombing), thrown him straight into the belly of the beast (he’s somehow popped up in this town with no memory of getting there), and turned us on our head by managing to twist time (Juliette Lewis’s Beverly has been there one year and she arrived in 1999, while Carla Gugino’s Kate has been there twelve years but only arrived around five weeks ago in real time). So many pieces thrown at us without being able to see the whole picture; much like Ethan, we’re following along with mostly clues from his point of view, with only a couple from outside with his family and the lead secret service agent Adam.

From the get go, I can already tell this series is not for everyone. This is a show that requires patience because we’re not getting the entire image of what’s going on. Similar to the opening shot, we’re only viewing the close-up of what’s occurring, when we really need to be able to pull back and view everything in a big picture kind of way. Given what has been provided to us already, this series appears to be something of a slow burner. Much like many a thrillers in the film format, this show appears to be one that will be slowly pieced together, we’ll be given the whole picture, and then we’ll have to deal with the repercussions of that big picture. I mean, why are these specific people there? How are they all okay with being held there against their will? How many of them are being held against there will. What is keeping these people there, and why? What did Adam do; did he give them Ethan? Is this a Truman Show situation, just with some kind of time warp? How has Beverly only been there one year, when in real time it’s been fifteen years, while Kate has been there twelve years in five weeks real time? Why can’t they leave? See, already so many questions – and I’m sure numerous audience members have more, with working theories far beyond my own grasp – with so many answers hopefully to be received.

Regarding the more behind the scenes kind of aspect to the show, with a few nitpicks about the technical parts; I’d like to start off by commending the casting of the series. This show has got names like the aforementioned Matt Dillon, Juliette Lewis (who I am loving already), and Carla Gugino, and then it also boasts the likes of Melissa Leo (as crazy nurse Pam), Terence Howard (as the sheriff), Shannyn Sossamon (as Ethan’s wife Theresa), and Reed Diamond (as Kate’s husband Harold). Such a phenomenal boat of talent, I expect this series will fly when it comes to the acting aspect. The cinematography has some kinks, but so far what’s been used is certainly working for it, and is in no way a hindrance such as the third season of American Horror Story’s technique was. The colouring and lighting left something to be desired, but I suspect that came more from a creative standpoint of making this town seem cold and alien to our unreliable hero. One thing I had the most issue with was the sound; it was so very raw, it almost made the episode seem a bit unfinished. Perhaps they’re going for an unnerving quality to the series, but I got more low-budget horror film quality from it. Even so, there was an intriguing quality to the series.

Overall, I enjoyed this series premiere. I don’t know how willing I’d be to stick with it beyond one season, but if they stick to the ten-episode event they’ve showcased for this series, I’ll certainly be a happy camper. Like I said, this is a series meant for someone willing to test their patience, and speaking as someone with a very low threshold, I wouldn’t be happy to have that patience stretched into obscurity. I can handle the slow build and burn of ten episodes, but I expect to get pieced results throughout those ten episodes, even if that means new questions arise. So far, the writing, the way this whole series is constructed, is working for it, but I strongly urge all those involved not to tempt the audience by giving too little too soon, or too much too soon, because I already watch a fair amount of series, and have several on my docket to catch up on, so I’d have no qualms dumping this one if it doesn’t continue to hold my interest. That’s just one woman’s advice.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Outlander 1.01 Series Premiere Review - A Long Journey in Time

The new series Outlander premiered Saturday night, in a basically self-titled series debut entitled ‘Sassenach’ – which one character explains as meaning Englishman, or at its worst outlander. The show opens up just after the end of World War II and our heroine Mrs. Claire Randall learning she is to reunite with her husband – to which she’s only seen a total of ten days in the last five years. The series opens really well, with a lovely voice over from our lead character kind of tying together choices with the present and the past, with a vase being a symbol of one choice that isn’t made.

Perhaps it was going into this series with an open mind and being comfortable with more intellectual material than a lot of television series demonstrate these days, but I thought this show was extremely enjoyable. If you’re going in expecting big scenes of action and destruction than this is not the show for you, there’s more of a finesse and detail to this series that takes it about half the first episode to get to the really peculiar circumstances Claire finds herself in.

This episode was very beautifully done in that matter; it doesn’t leave us with the shocker of Claire being in another time in the last five minutes which would strive to bring us back next week – which I was very thankful for – but it also doesn’t give us all the information involved that would drive our curiousity out the window – and us along with it. We know she’s ended up two hundred years in the past, but we don’t know why, how, or if she’ll be stuck there for good. There’s a good chance she’ll spend a great deal of time there, given her palm reading earlier in the episode depicts two marriages – please let it be that beautifully chiseled soldier whose shoulder she pops back in its socket – without a broken long.

Speaking of that beautiful man with the jaw of a Greek god, I’d like to take a look at the characters we’ve been introduced to us thus far. Obviously, there’s Claire, our heroine, whose smart, committed to her husband, and isn’t the believing type. The actress does a fine job of carrying this series, depicting a natural curiousity and a deep fondness for her husband. She’s very likeable, and despite the feeling I get that she is more than her husband, they seem very much in love. Mr. Frank Randall, however, is a little tedious, and a bit of a bore, but I can still evidently see the love he shares with his wife. These two fit well together, but there’s almost something missing that makes this time travelling adventure quite perfect. Mr. Chiseled Jaw, aka Jamie Fraser (although I don’t believe his name was actually mentioned in the pilot), on the other hand, instills a kind of excitement that makes me wishful that this is the other husband Claire will have. The chemistry is there between them, and that they keep being thrown together throughout the latter half of the first episode is a good sign, but it could always be a red herring. I am excited to learn more about his character, though.

In a technical aspect, this series was very well written, well acted, and the cinematography was neither disorienting or too in your face. The lighting didn’t have me squinting to see what was going on, like so many series do, particularly when natural lighting is all that is involved, and the transitioning – or fluidity – of the episode worked quite well. Also, I really enjoyed the costumes, particularly Claire’s outfits. They made me want to find something of the sort and for society to kind of go back to a 1940’s style of dress – rather than the eye roll inducing crop tops and shorts/dresses/skirts that leave nothing to the imagination. Now I’m no historian, so I can’t speak to the validity of any of the costume pieces, but I thought that they were quite well done, as well as the rest of the set dressing.

While I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this series and desire to watch it again next Saturday, I am quite glad I was given this review to write, for it gave me the chance to give this show a shot. Everything about this series really worked for me, and while it may eventually grow tiresome, I am definitely excited to give the rest of this season a chance. It was very beautifully done, and somehow gave me a Legend of the Seeker vibe to it. And it also makes me want to go out and buy the books the series is based on right away. So, if you’ve come to this review to see whether or not you should give Outlander a chance, let me just say that if you have an open mind about, and don’t expect something constantly in your face, this would definitely be a welcome addition to your TV schedule. That’s just from one TV addict to another.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” – Claire says. “I’m not at all sure that I haven’t.” – Frank replies.

Bitten 1.01 Review: Everyone Just Wants to be Normal

This is a friendly reminder for all those that have yet to watch last night’s Canadian series premiere of Bitten, titled ‘Summons’, or are waiting to watch the U.S. series premiere tomorrow night, that now would be the time to exit this screen. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been aptly warned.

There were a number of things wrong with this series premiere that I took issue with, even when ignoring the source material this series comes from. But I’m going to ignore that second part for now, and focus solely on my issues with the notable departure from the books. Just to forewarn you, this may be a long review.

Now, I’m a big fan of the book series, of which this series is based around the first book Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. I’ve been a big fan of the Women of the Otherworld series since I was twelve, making that nearly a decade that I’ve been reading this series. And when I say big fan, I do mean big fan – I’m a member of the author’s website, have read the books several times, and consider the series to be my favourite books (and I read A LOT of books). So when I say that I take issue with this adaptation of the first novel in this book series, it’s a big deal to me.

Let’s begin with the actors. I have to say that Laura Vandervoort was about the only one that suited her role in the looks department, but I’ve seen this woman in a number of roles (beginning with her sisterly role in the Canadian series Instant Star) over the years, and she’s not the strongest of actresses. She can be good in supporting roles, but I have yet to see her acting strong enough to play a leading lady. But, I suppose, at least she actually looked like what the character was supposed to look like.

Then there’s Clay (short for Clayton Danvers), played here by Greyston Holt, to which I’ve only seen as secondary characters in a few shows I watch. To paraphrase, he was supposed to be a gorgeous, young looking, animalistic man with a Southern drawl he never quite got rid of, despite not remembering his own family from before he was bitten as a child. Holt may be an attractive enough man, but not in the Greek god like way he was written as in the books. Phillip was more attractive than him. And even ignoring the fact that this could be Elena’s – as our narrator – bias, he was still seen as devilishly handsome by others – that he ignored because he only had eyes for Elena – evident with how many women fawned over him. There was none of this in Clay, nor was it evident that he could not stand to be around humans, nor that he was more wolf than man a great deal of the time. I tried to give Holt the benefit of the doubt, and maybe part of it is the writers’ fault, but even if he seems like he could be a good actor, the man was not right for the role, and the role not right either. I mean, he didn’t act ANYTHING like the beloved sadistic character of the books.

Then there are the other members of the wolf pack. This consists of Jeremy (played by Greg Byrk), Antonio (Paulino Nunes), Nick (Steve Lund), Logan (Michael Xavier), and Peter (Joel Keller). Now, I had no major issues with Lund, Xavier, or Keller in the looks department with their respective characters, although Keller didn’t quite appear young enough, but I did take issue with how they were characterized. It was Byrk and Nunes I took greatest issue with. Byrk was no where near young enough looking to play Jeremy, and he certainly didn’t look like he was the quiet, cunning type of Alpha that was also a wonderful painter. And Nunes just did not look anything like his son, or young enough at all to play Antonio.

In regards to Nick, Logan, and Peter’s personalities, I found Keller to be quite like he was playing the role, rather than embodying it. Nick just did not have any personality to him, and the whole threesome thing made absolutely no sense. My issue with Logan was, despite that I enjoyed getting to know his character and seeing him, he just wasn’t that involved in the book. Plus, werewolves have no place for humans in their lives, so I didn’t really understand the whole Rachel thing.

My final irk with the characters had to do with Phillip and his whole family. Now, in the books Phillip and Elena met when living in the same building, but this time around she’s best friends with his sister and that’s how they met. This just doesn’t make sense because Elena doesn’t get along with women, and Phillip’s sisters are all supposed to be far older. And then there was the whole mother issue. In the books, Phillip’s family loves Elena, and kind of adopts her as one of their own, which just goes to explain the reasoning behind how family-centered Phillip is. This antagonization from the mother towards Elena’s character makes no sense and does nothing to assert Phillip’s adoration of his family. I just, really cannot stand it. Plus how business-centered they all seem to be, like family isn’t what’s most important to them, it doesn’t really help to depict how these characters are supposed to be.

A few other nitpicks I have with how this series changed from the books included Elena’s job change. Why did they need to change her from a journalist to a photographer? Because it’s a prettier, more visual job? Honestly, she was a journalist for a reason; it was so that she’d be able to help cover up werewolf activity, and it also helps her to meet another character down the line in the book series. So, please, tell me what changing her to a photographer adds to the story? Also why include Logan in her life so heavily. Yes, she was in contact with him as opposed to the other pack members she’d taken leave from, but she didn’t see him on a daily basis, and there was certainly no running with other wolves in Toronto. I just, I find that this changes her character more, that she doesn’t have to feel so extracted from her werewolf life. And that whole thing with her mentioning to her friend that she’d had a dark past? There’s no way she would have spoken about that! She wouldn’t not say it because of pride, but the book Elena felt that it wasn’t an excuse to be used, just a point in her life to move past. And I’m pretty sure Clay was about the only one who knew how bad she’d had it in the foster care system. Yes, this is a television series and we don’t get as much into her head, but there’s no good reason she needed to mention any of that. I just, I think that by doing this it shows how comfortable she’s gotten in this new life, but Elena never felt fully comfortable in the books.

Now, when it comes to strictly what was wrong with the show, not in correlation to the books, there were several other things to mention. First of all, the first victim of the serial killing werewolf (that would be serial killer that is also a werewolf, not that he’s a serial killer of werewolves) was a TERRIBLE actress. Honestly, it felt like she’d been picked off the side of the street and told to read these lines. Not good. Also, being that it is a Canadian made show, the CGI was a bit obvious when it came to the werewolves in wolf form. And, finally, I felt like there wasn’t quite enough well done background music. It felt too plain when it came to that, like we could hear the characters speak most of the time too well.

All in all, about the only things I really did like were, despite my issues with it, that we do get to see Logan more than in the books, and also the opening credits. Anyone that has read my review of Dracula and Sleepy Hollow can likely attest to that. Now, I will give this series a couple more episodes to find its footing and get better, but I’m not sure how much better it can get. I loved these books, and it pains my heart to think I won’t be able to watch this show because of how badly it’s being done.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

No memorable lines.

My apologies if this seems a bit confusing for a page and a half, because I wrote that part on Sunday, otherwise I just finished the rest now. Now, I’m really behind on reviews, so I may not get to all of them. That includes one of two Almost Human episodes, one of two Trophy Wife episodes, one of two Cougar Town episodes, the last American Horror Story: Coven episode, one of two Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes, and the last episode of The Crazy Ones. I will be trying to review Bones last episode, mostly because I haven’t watched it yet, as well as Revenge, Shameless, this week’s Almost Human, Teen Wolf, How I Met Your Mother, Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, and tonight’s episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Trophy Wife, Cougar Town, The Originals, and Supernatural. My apologies about all this, I’ve been really plowing through a rewatch of Gilmore Girls lately.

Almost Human 1.01 Review: What Makes Us Human

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s series premiere of Almost Human, this is where I suggest that you do that before proceeding ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

So, this week’s pilot episode of Almost Human set the scene for a not-too-distant future (it is only the year 2048) where technology has advanced to the point where crime has skyrocketed 400%. This means there are not enough cops to dissuade criminals, and thus each cop must be paired with a synthetic partner – basically a robot.

We meet up with our damaged hero of the piece, John Kennex, played by the wonderful Karl Urban. After seventeen months in a coma caused by the evil crime unit known as Syndicate that wiped out the rest of his command, he has spent the last seven months rehabilitating. But now it’s time for this detective to get back to work, and that’s where this series begins.

While I have never seen Blade Runner and thus cannot make the connections with that film, this series does appear to have equal parts I, Robot as well as the recent remake of Total Recall. The special effects were masterful, which is what I related to the latter of the two films, and the MX’s were brilliantly designed, and also had an air of the former film. That being said, there wasn’t much I saw in this pilot that could be deemed original, but it was fun to watch nonetheless.

Although I’m a big fan of Karl Urban from both The Chronicles of Riddick film, as well as the two latest Star Trek films, it was not he who shined in this series. It was Michael Ealy’s turn as the emotional synthetic known as Dorian, based on the model name DRN. His ability to play a robot with emotions, but still jilted in his acting was phenomenal, and will likely be one of the bigger reasons I come back next episode. The man did amazing, I’d almost believe he actually was a robot, and that is the mark of a truly talented actor. It’s good to know that this guy has the chops to bring to one-half of a crime fighting team.

That leads me to another thing. One of my favourite things about this episode, aside from the character Dorian and my natural-born curiousity when it comes to the Syndicate, was the relationship that has just barely had its surface scratched, in way of the cop-synthetic team of Kennex and Dorian. The way Kennex had a strong adversity to all things synthetic, and then he is eventually (that is, after throwing his MX out of his car into highway traffic) paired with one that has emotions and is as close to human as possible, especially in the way that he makes his own choices and his intuition leads him to make those decisions. These two are perfectly paired for one another, and I look forward to watching their relationship evolve. I’m sure, while they did seem to come to some sort of understanding in the end, that there will be difficulties and obstacles to overcome, and that is a rather exciting endeavor for myself as an audience member.

All in all, this wasn’t a disappointing premiere. There wasn’t much in the way of originality like I said, but the cast that has been brought together seems promising. I do look forward to learning more about John’s ex-girlfriend, as well as seeing the development of Minka Kelly’s character. There is no shortage of cop dramas on television, but this does have a slightly different spin on that, at the very least. I’m not sure if I will stick around for the entire season, but this episode does have my curiousity peeked. Also, Segway!

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Well, that last part is true.” – Kennex agrees with his psychologist defining him as hating his synthetic body parts.

“Amy, Audrey, Aquamarine…” – Dorian lists off possible A names.

Okay, folks, that’s all for tonight. Check back in tomorrow for my reviews of How I Met Your Mother, Sleepy Hollow, and Almost Human, which moves into its Monday night timeslot.

Dracula 1.01 Review: The Seeking of Vengeance

All those that have yet to watch last night’s series premiere of Dracula should go and do so now or exit this screen. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

As someone that has read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and found it tediously boring, this was not a terrible revival of the tale. This new retelling of the old story has been given a fresh take to it, but still sticking to Victorian era I recall it being set in. That being said, this was not the best pilot to a series I’ve ever seen. If I were someone that only gave a series one chance, I would be unlikely to revisit this show again. But I am not, so I will give this a few more episodes to catch my interest.

One thing that caught my attention was how much I did not like Jonathan Rhy Meyer’s American accent. It wasn’t badly done or anything, but it was just so boisterously average, when his beautifully natural Irish accent is so much nicer that I don’t know why anyone would want to cover it up. But I do understand the need to have him play American; I just don’t feel drawn to his voice the way I am by his natural accent.

While I do feel that with this whole vengeance warpath Alexander Grayson is on does provide for interesting mythology and a possibly long series, there wasn’t much more to this bland sort of episode. For around three-quarters of the time spent watching this episode, I was rather bored. Yes, he’s a vampire, he’s the vampire, and vampires are very hot for the time being (although not as much as five years ago), there wasn’t anything new to this take on vampires. I’ve seen this before, millions of people have seen this before, this is not refreshing or original – especially since this book has had many renditions. But there’s not much to this character that catches my interest just yet, or to this series. Yes, he’s out for vengeance, that’s one intriguing notion, but there’s no pizzazz to this story. I don’t need flashy, but I do need something to draw me in and excite me.

I’m not sure if I was the only one, but I found it a little difficult to follow the conversations at times throughout the episode. It was almost as if this felt like the second or third episode in a series, where a lot of things have already been set up and I’m jumping in in the middle of the conversation. That’s how it made me feel, like it wasn’t explained quite well enough. Especially during the conversation between Jonathan Harker and Grayson, and the conversation between the two board members in the carriage before Grayson and Kruger fight. Part of it, I think, had to do with a lack of differentiating tone. There were very little inflections, or ups and downs, to the way people were speaking. Not quite monotone, but nothing to really demonstrate how most were feeling as they spoke. But perhaps that’s just polite English conversation. If it is, I much prefer my North American upbringing in that sense.

Van Helsing’s character I was a little unimpressed with. Grayson is played by the wonderful aforementioned Meyers, Mina, Jonathan, and Lucy are all played by attractive in their own right actors, but Van Helsing is played by a man I wouldn’t look twice at walking down the street. He just looks like an average Joe, nothing special. Perhaps that is the objective of the creators, to not have him be so encompassing that he’s easy to notice, but I’d think they’d want to be able to at least differentiate the actors in each scene. There’s nothing to him. Plus, correct me if I’m wrong, I can’t remember him working with Dracula in the book. I could be wrong, it’s been four years since I read the unremarkable text, but the two of them being in cahoots just seems wrong to me. Sure they have a common enemy, but I don’t think it’s enough – he’s Van Helsing.

One other thing I had issue with was the random addition of the opening title credit. There was no music to it, it was just silent, and it just felt thrown in to splice a scene from fitting together perfectly. I had a ‘What?’ moment when it came up on screen.

Two things I did enjoy were the wonderfully done special effects, and the choreographed dance in Grayson’s ballroom. The former may well have been great simply because of the smartly skewed lighting illuminating Grayson as he reanimated into the beautiful Meyers, but that would still be something well worked on for using those tricks to enhance the effect. The latter I just thought should belong at a gorgeous masquerade ball, or that One Republic music video. I always find it so astonishing when people dance in unison; it can be quite mesmerizing. Also, the way they pilfered in the gossip about the man that had invited all of them there was perfectly fitted.

Although I don’t feel like we were really given enough of the depths to some of these characters, I do feel the need to give this series another chance. As a fan of the gothic, I will try to power through, but I do hope that the blandness to this episode was just to set up the series going forward. This certainly wasn’t the worst premiere episode I’ve ever seen, but it was skillfully the best either. The acting was mostly good, and the writing so-so, better than a fair amount of television these days, so I’ll give it another shot.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Best Line:

“Give me one good reason I should not peel you like a grape.” – Grayson shouts at Van Helsing.

Alright, so I hope by this publication you realize I won’t be posting a Best Performances of the Week. I haven’t been feeling it for the last few weeks, I just don’t think many performances have warranted it, so we’ll see how this next week goes. If I don’t find anything greatly done in Haven, I may just move that the BPW to Saturday’s instead of their usual Thursday’s being that I have no programs to watch on Saturday. Anyways, I’m off to go watch Haven, but don’t expect a review of that tonight, I can already feel the exhaustion seeping into my bones.