BEYOND What?

Article first published as BEYOND Review on Seat42F.

Freeform has a new supernatural drama this week called BEYOND. A man wakes up from a twelve-year coma in perfect health, no muscle atrophy or anything. So maybe he wasn’t in a coma, as some who seek him out suggest. Also, he now has some crazy powers, and people who seem pretty shady are after him. Essentially, it’s a lot of mystery and chaos wrapped in what feels like a YA series, though this one isn’t based on any book.

The main character is Holden Matthews (Burkely Duffield, House of Anubis). Holden is about to become a high schooler when whatever happens to him happens. Waking up, he remembers nothing of the last twelve years, except for confusing flashes of images that indicate he did more than just sleep. It’s hard for him to piece that together, though, while trying to readjust to his family and getting pulled into something bigger.

The first thing that strikes me about the central family in BEYOND is that they don’t feel real. Mother Diane (Romy Rosemont, Glee) is nurturing and father Tom (Michael McGrady, Ray Donovan) is involved with his kids, and yet, Holden is allowed to go out on a school night, riding a motorcycle and drinking beer. I’m sorry, but if the parents were as good as they seem to be, I don’t think all that would happen, especially not to a boy who seems so interested in science and space, who probably wouldn’t want to do those things at that age anyway. Maybe I’m just sheltered, but the characters don’t seem consistent or well through-thru.

It’s interesting that BEYOND chooses to recast all the central players from its opening to its twelve-years-later story. The kids have grown, sure, especially Holden’s younger brother, Luke (Jonathan Whitesell, The 100), so they should be different actors. But Tom and Diane also change. I can’t think of another show that makes this decision, though I don’t mind it. Given the seemingly low-budget quality of the production, the money is better spent on ‘big’ action sequences rather than trying to convincingly de-age a couple of performers.

Where things really fall apart for me is just the lack of engagement of the plot or characters. Holden is our lead that the audience needs to get behind, but we don’t really see anything in him that makes us like or root for him. Things happen to him, but aside from a few goofy moments with Luke and certain love interest Willa (Dilan Gwyn, Dracula Untold), we get little insight into his personality. Why are we supposed to care about Holden? What is his motivation?

The rest of the cast isn’t much better. There may be something weird going on with the family, given how well they’ve apparently adjusted during Holden’s absence. Willa is definitely into the deeper mythology, and while my instinct is that we can trust her, it’s probably too early to know that for sure. Holden’s childhood best friend, Kevin (Jordan Calloway, Unfabulous), is not an upstanding citizen. I don’t see anything in any of them to hook me.

I guess BEYOND is trying to really bank on its mystery, and that’s fine as long as it has strong characters along for the ride. It doesn’t. The pacing is slow, and the story is more confusing than compelling. I don’t know what’s going on after watching the pilot, and I’m sure I’m not meant to, but the problem with this series is that I don’t care to find out, either.

The entire first season of BEYOND, all ten episodes, will be available streaming on Hulu and the cable network’s app on premiere day, ready for binging, and this may work in its favor. With the next episode readily accessible, some viewers may decide to just keep going or allow auto-play to do its thing. However, I feel no compulsion to continue through the nine episodes made available to press, so I would suspect some who do stick it out will feel like their time has been wasted in the end. I could be wrong, but BEYOND fails to make me want to find out.

BEYOND premieres tomorrow on Freeform, and all episodes will be immediately available streaming as well.

LOW WINTER SUN Premiere Review

Article first published as LOW WINTER SUN Review on Seat42F.

AMC’s LOW WINTER SUN begins with the murder of Detroit cop Brendan McCann (Michael McGrady, Ray Donovan) by two of his fellow officers, who do their best to make the death look like a suicide. Viewers are told that McCann is an alcoholic, corrupt, working with mobsters, and an all-around not-good guy. He deserves to die, right?

Well, that’s not clear. LOW WINTER SUN is all about shades of grey, with a character claiming early on that morality is neither black and white. Said character, Detective Joe Geddes (Lennie James, The Walking Dead, Jericho), who happens to be Brendan’s partner, used to be in priest school, so he knows a thing or two about right and wrong.

Yet, just doing what one should or shouldn’t do isn’t enough, and everyone may have a different opinion on whether they are working towards justice or not, and how far one should go.

LOW WINTER SUN asks us to forget about a style of storytelling where we know what’s going on and just pay attention to the characters. What each person says and does may be much more telling than how the plot unfolds, and it presents a world where right and wrong are relative, as well as shifting from moment to moment. The only certain rule in this complex drama is that the episodes will be unpredictable, and we’re supposed to just take it all in, saving figuring things out and making our judgments for later.

Of course, every television show needs an access point where viewers can connect with the world being presented. LOW WINTER SUN’s main protagonist is Frank Agnew (Mark Strong, reprising the role from the British miniseries on which this show is based). Frank is the mastermind behind Brendan’s death, convinced by Joe that killing Brendan is the right thing, and that Brendan may have hacked up Frank’s love. Thusly, Frank is introduced as a hero, a man acting for the right reasons.

Frank and Joe’s alliance quickly falls apart. Joe may or may not have been up front with Frank, meaning Frank can’t trust his accomplice. Joe could be dirty, like Brendan, or could be lying about Frank’s girl. He may just be a smooth talker, or he may have yet-to-be-revealed reasons for wanting Frank dead. There’s a lot of ambiguity here, which James plays brilliantly.

Which is a hallmark of the rest of the series, too. Characters know different things at different times, and have their own motivations. These are well-defined individuals, which means their interactions are complicated and layered. Just as people can be deceptive in real life, so, too, can the players in LOW WINTER SUN, which makes it hard to accept what plays out on screen at face value. This is a plus for the show.

Things get more complicated when Internal Affairs agent Simon Boyd (David Costabile, Breaking Bad, Suits, Damages) shows up to look into Brendan. Simon arrives before Brendan’s body is found, but Simon is very interested in not only what happened to Brendan, but what the implications are. He is the type of man to keep things close to the vest and goad his subjects or not, as the need arises, driving everyone crazy very quickly. He is definitely intelligent enough to eventually put the pieces together, but is he wise enough to balance that information and the law with reality and judgment? Costabile is the perfect man for this difficult, juicy role.

Simon isn’t the only one Frank needs to worry about. A fellow officer, Khalil (Athena Karkanis, Wild Kratts), is already taking note of Frank’s odd behavior, as Frank tries to keep himself under control and not let doubt and guilt consume him. Frank’s boss, Charles Dawson (Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Castle), cares more about his career than his officers, tasking Frank with keeping Brendan from damaging him, and would surely throw Frank under the bus if need be. Frank is surrounded by people who might cause him trouble.

LOW WINTER SUN also takes time to examine the criminal side of Detroit, the one in which Brendan was mixed up in. There’s a wanna-be crime boss, Damon (James Ransone, Treme), his wife, Maya (Sprague Grayden, 24, Sons of Anarchy), and their new recruit, the psychologically damaged Nick Paflas (Billy Lush, The Chicago Code), to round out the cast. This means that not only will the show be giving us a very involved police presence, but also showing the other side, too, which makes sense, given the cross-over component, with villains and heroes working both sides of the line.

The result is an intriguing series that should be well-accepted by AMC viewers, who expect an extremely high quality to their programming, with characters and scripts not easily digested, and installments that leave them with much to ponder and debate. Despite its trappings of a crime drama, LOW WINTER SUN is so much more, and should feel right at home with the network’s other fare.

LOW WINTER SUN airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on AMC.

Southland returns on TNT

     Southland was a gritty cop show set in Los Angeles that aired on NBC last spring for seven episodes.  Although it was initially renewed for a thirteen episode second season, the premiere date in the fall was pushed back, and then the show was abruptly canceled, without the final six filmed episodes ever seeing the light of day.  Part of the reason the show was pulled was because of its dark tone.  The direction of the series also changed for the second season, focusing more on Adams, Sherman, and their partners, giving less importance to the rest of the ensemble.  It was also to be more procedural, less serial, than before.

     Beginning tonight at ten p.m., TNT will air all thirteen filmed episodes.  Depending on how the ratings go, perhaps they may even order more.  Though an extension has not yet been announced, TNT owns the rights to do so.  The episodes will air in production order, starting with an extended version (by about six minutes) of the pilot.  As of March 2nd, the show will have exhausted the already aired episodes, and begin showing new ones, for those fans who have already seen the first seven.  TNT has also restored language that was cut due to broadcast content standards that cable is not constrained by.

     The series stars Regina King (24), Benjamin McKenzie (The O.C.), Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do), and Michael Cudlitz (Band of Brothers) as the aforementioned partners.  Also starring are Kevin Alejandro (Shark), Arija Bareikis, Shawn Hatosy, and Michael McGrady (Day Break).  The show is not really my cup of tea, but if you enjoyed it last spring, this is all very good news for you.  It definitely stood apart from other cop dramas currently on television.

     SPOILER ALERT!  Although I have not yet been sent the new episodes, I can reveal that Ben will have to face dealing with John's pain medication addiction, Chickie will be ostracized by the other cops, Lydia will have trouble balancing her personal life and her job, and Sammy will feel left out when he and Nate join a drug task force with Gil, an old friend of Nate's.  Sammy also will be trying to have a baby, and Mercedes will not be very accepting of Nate as her father, which will end up causing something really bad.  Sal's daughter will manipulate him, black mailing him after she finds out about his affair.  These are but a few of the details already released about upcoming episodes.