Looking for a brand new weirdo show to fall madly in love with? Chances are, it won't be Happy Town. Word on the street, or should I say net, pegged Happy Town as a kooky cult drama a la Twin Peaks. A shadowy excursion into the darkness-dwelleth-here-under-sugarcoated-country-smiles genre of television.
Three episodes in. The verdict? Epic fail. Poor Unhappy Town. To put it bluntly, the hordes of America are in no rush to pick up a Magic Man t-shirt.
Yes, you read right. "Magic Man" is the moniker given to a criminal responsible for numerous child kidnappings a decade ago. Bad news, he was never caught. Badder news, he's baaaacckkk.
To be honest, after diagnosing the pilot with Severe Exposition Syndrome, I stopped watching. (The writer's kept hitting me on the head with a blunt storyline hammer, and it was painful!).
For example, Tommy and Rachel are happily married. Really? Very happily married? Since high school kind of happily married? Really? They're happily married? Tommy and Rachel are happily married?
YOU DON'T SAY.
Still, I like Sam Neill. Merlin's always been great onscreen. His face is so wise, and his eyes have a twinkle to them. He's like a cool great-uncle, or an inspiring teacher. When someone of Sam's calibre makes a transition to small screen, (viewing) attendance feels kind of mandatory.
Happy Town did start to get better. Or, at the very least, hurt less. When the squeaky clean protagonist helps a murderer cover his tracks (long story), I actually began to care, a little, about what was happening onscreen.
Likewise, I didn't guess who the handsome stranger in the woods would turn out to be. It's nice to be narratively surprised.
Unfortunately, ABC in the U.S. has delayed screening of episodes four and five, so it looks like cancellation is imminent. File under failed experiment. It's a pity, but there isn't time these days for programs to find their feet. Personally, I think the writing should have been sharper straight out of the gate. Tsk, tsk, tsk...
No comments:
Post a Comment