SLEEPY HOLLOW's Prospects "Dark"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

On last night’s SLEEPY HOLLOW on FOX, “Whispers in the Dark,” Ichabod (Tom Mison) and Abbie (Nicole Beharie) try to protect some people being hunted by a shadow. Said shadow has been unleashed by Pandora (Shannyn Sossamon), whom the two begin to realize has been hanging around. Thankfully, they have Ichabod’s memories of an encounter Betsy Ross (Nikki Reed) had with the creature, so they are able to defeat it by the end of the hour.

I am very glad I took notes while watching last night’s installment, something I don’t normally do, because otherwise, I’m not sure I’d remember enough to write about it this morning. The episode had a few fun bits with our heroes, but was mostly a forgettable mess of plot holes and inconsistencies. The hope sparked last week that the third season of SLEEPY HOLLOW would get past the mistakes of the dreadful second year is dying out quickly.

Let’s start with Daniel Reynolds (Lance Gross, House of Payne). He is a mysterious man from Abbie’s past whom she attended Quantico with. Somehow, Abbie attended Quantico and became an agent in the single year between seasons two and three, met an older man who also happened to be in the same program, and that man is now a boss, her boss? None of that sounds the least bit believable.

Abbie’s problems with the FBI don’t end there. Abbie frequently neglects her normal cop duties during the first two seasons of SLEEPY HOLLOW because she’s fighting the supernatural, but this is forgivable because her boss is in on her secret and knows what she’s up to. Now, Abbie is doing the same thing as an FBI agent without that same level of protection from above. There’s no way she can get away with doing what she does and still keep her job, even if somehow, by chance, this shadow is her actual assigned case, which is far-fetched itself. Where are her fellow agents? Who is she working with? She’s a brand new agent, there’s no way she’s given this much freedom.

Also, how did Abbie afford such a nice house as the one she is living in in “Whispers in the Dark?” You can’t tell me her salary as a local cop paid for that, and she certainly isn’t making that kind of money as a newly-graduated federal agent. We know Ichabod doesn’t have any money to help her pay the mortgage (which makes one wonder how he funded his year abroad). Again, the writers fail to think through what is realistic in this situation.

Then, Abbie and Ichabod supposedly defeat the creature the same way Betsy Ross did back in colonial times. Except they don’t. The scene we see with Betsy looks quite different from what they are facing. Why make this parallel if you’re not going to follow through and connect them?

In the ‘B’ plot of “Whispers in the Dark,” Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) runs into Joe Corbin (Zach Appelman) who apparently has been just waiting around to join the team all this time. She turns down his application, and he is immediately kidnapped and gets drawn in any way. That seems way too big a coincidence to me. Why didn’t we see Joe approach sooner? Why is he kidnapped if he’s not connected? None of it makes sense.

I liked SLEEPY HOLLOW’s first season a lot, especially once the show got going. Now, it seems like a typical crime drama that just happens to have mystical elements, and one in which settings and character relationships are created purely to serve the formula for that genre without any regard as to what makes sense for this world. It’s disrespectful to the fans and lazy for the production to put this type of product forward. The ratings have been poor enough that a fourth season seems unlikely for SLEEPY HOLLOW, which only narrowly got a third run. In my opinion, it cannot be pulled off the air soon enough.

Oh, and since Joe is here for Jenny and Daniel is flirting with Abbie, I guess we won’t get Hawley back any time soon. That’s a shame because he was a cool character with potential. It’s a waste to disappear him.

SLEEPY HOLLOW airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

Can I Get a "Witness" (Or Two)?

Article originally published as SLEEPY HOLLOW Review "I, Witness" on Seat42F.

SLEEPY HOLLOW returns for a third season on FOX with “I, Witness.” Ichabod (Tom Mison), gone these past nine months, returns home just as a demon begins terrorizing the town. Abbie (Nicole Beharie) is happy to see him and lend a hand, but her new job as an F.B.I. agent keeps her (sort of) busy, though luckily she’s still assigned to the area. But is the demon an isolated menace, or does a mysterious woman who happens to be fond of boxes portend further troubles?

I will be the first to say that SLEEPY HOLLOW is in need of a reboot this season. Last year devolved into a boring procedural that lost cohesion and became quite full of plot holes. But the way in which “I, Witness” begins could give anyone whiplash. Irving has left town, Katrina and Henry are really dead, The Headless Horseman is destroyed in the opening minutes, and the archive building is about to be torn down. Other than our two leads and Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood), who remains a helping hand, the show has tossed out just about everything that has anchored its first couple of runs.

That may or may not be a good thing. “I, Witness” is certainly an interesting episode. The demon is but a brief distraction, with the majority of the plot focused on more ongoing tales. There’s lots of banter between Abbie and Ichabod as they catch up, having not seen in each other in nine months, and the aforementioned mysterious woman, Pandora (Shannyn Sossamon, Wayward Pines), is definitely present to stir things up. That gets SLEEPY HOLLOW back to its strong roots, a sweeping mythology story of the two witnesses trying to stop the seven tribulations.

Where things fall apart a bit for me is the inconsistency in the way the story is laid out. Aren’t the seven tribulations basically supposed to be hell on Earth? How come almost no one has noticed the world is in serious peril yet? Abbie says she has a new job that keeps her busy, but she gets to run around with Ichabod as much as she wants during the day. (The fact that the demon gets mixed up in her unconnected case is just ridiculous.) And SLEEPY HOLLOW can’t decide if it wants to stick with history or not, bringing Betsy Ross (Nikki Reed, the Twilight films) into the story as a super spy. It’s a bit more jumbled than it needs to be.

Killing the horseman is the biggest miss. This is someone who has been a dangerous foe and has a lot of history with our heroes, and there isn’t even any set up to get him to this point. To wipe him out in a brief scene with Pandora feels wrong. He deserves more than to be written off without even getting the chance to fight back. I could be wrong in thinking he’s permanently deceased, but that’s what seems to happen when his powers are taken and he dissolves in the black smoke.

That being said, I’m willing to give this year a chance to make up for past wrongs. Betsy and Pandora are but two of the four new main characters, the other two sitting out this episode, though we’ve seen one of them before. The story seems poised to get back into longer arcs and more personal backstory. And Abbie and Ichabod are back to doing what they do best, saving the world with the same chemistry any other crime procedural duo has. So it looks like “I, Witness” gets things off to a mostly good start.

SLEEPY HOLLOW airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

WAYWARD PINES a Murky Place

Article originally published as WAYWARD PINES Review at Seat42F.

Carla Gugino & Matt Dillon Wayward Pines

 

WAYWARD PINES, premiering this week on FOX, is the story of a Secret Service agent who, while looking into the appearance of two fellow agents, becomes trapped in a mystery-laden town. Produced by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) and based on the book series by Blake Crouch, it’s a dense thriller that poses far more questions than it answers, at least initially.

My first impression is that Wayward Pines is trying too hard. The pilot, “Where Paradise Is Home,” rips off the beginning of Lost; you’ll know immediately what I’m talking about when you see it. Except, instead of being set on an untethered island or trapped under a dome (like CBS’ Under The Dome, which it will compete with this summer), it takes place in the small town of Wayward Pines, Idaho – a place that is completely isolated in a valley, cut off from the rest of the world. So yeah, it’s just like those other two, at least in this one regard.

Our hero is Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon, Sunlight Jr., Wild Things), and “Where Paradise Is Home” revolves around him, telling a disjointed, nonlinear story. He’s married to a woman named Theresa (Shannyn Sossamon, Mistresses), but cheated on her with his former partner, Kate (Carla Gugino, Entourage, Watchmen), who shows up where you might not expect her. Almost immediately, he makes a connection with a bartender named Beverly (Juliette Lewis, Secrets and Lies, Christmas Vacation), so I guess perhaps hero is too strong a word. Let’s just call him the protagonist.

What does any of that have to do with the story? Well, something. There’s a Truman Show-esque twist that ties Ethan’s messy love life into the town, but to what end, I have no idea. Nor do I know why someone says Beverly isn’t really a bartender, nor why Nurse Pam (Melissa Leo, Treme, The Fighter) acts in such a sinister manner, nor why Sheriff Pope (Terrence Howard, Empire, Iron Man) won’t help, nor why Reed Diamond (Franklin & Bash, Moneyball) has been cast as a toymaker. The only thing that makes much sense is Toby Jones (Captain America) playing a psychiatrist, which seems perfectly natural.

I love dense, genre mystery shows. If you give me a solid cast and a well-thought out story, I couldn’t possibly be any happier watching television. I’m much more reticent to jump into WAYWARD PINES than others of its ilk, though. Part of it is that they are selling themselves as a “Twin Peaks-like” drama and stealing so much from other stories along the way. Now, some of that may come from the book; I haven’t read it so I don’t know. But the way the program is presented doesn’t even feel like those involved are trying to do something new.

It also concerns me to see the cast list. They’re almost universally strong performers, so that makes me think perhaps I should give the material a chance. But part of being so strong is that many of them have other jobs on currently running shows. Wayward Pines season one is announced to be only ten episodes, and presumably, subsequent seasons could be equally short to allow scheduling to work out. I just can’t see all of these people agreeing to stretch themselves so thin over any extended period of time, though.

WAYWARD PINES has a lot of good ingredients. The question will be, did the chefs take some liberty with the recipe, tossing in the unique spices that will make it a fresh and delicious dish (like Lost), or did they follow the book exactly, making something bland and derivative (like Under The Dome)? The answer to this will be what makes or breaks this show.

WAYWARD PINES premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

How to Make It in America doesn't quite make it

     HBO has a new show out called How to Make It in America.  It is about friends Ben (Bryan Greenberg, October Road) and Cam (Victor Rasuk, ER) trying to make money while living in New York City, apparently in the fashion scene, though after watching, I thought it was more the art world.  It is attempting to be gritty and realistic, or at least it comes across that way.  The theme song may be confusing, but it resembles the photographs shown at an artist showcase later in the pilot episode.

     This series has plenty going for it.  Besides Greenberg, it boasts other notable stars such as Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie, 'Til Death), Lake Bell (Boston Legal), Shannyn Sossamon (Moonlight), Martha Plimpton, and Luis Guzman.  Unfortunately, it didn't land in the premiere.  There was plenty of the two main guys, but very little of anyone else.  They are charming and interesting, but there wasn't enough plot to adequately set up what the series is going to be about.  Not only that, unlike other recent HBO shows, I didn't get invested in the characters right away.  At this point, I could never watch another episode and never wonder what happened.

     However, I am going to watch next week's episode.  It does intrigue me that I don't what it's about.  I've always thought that pilots are often a poor representation of the series, and I hope this one is as well.  Because I can't predict what else is coming, I will watch at least another half hour or two until I decide whether or not it is worth my time.

     If you'd like to check it out, How to Make It in America will rerun throughout the week, and new episodes will be presented Sundays at 10pm on HBO.