I hate to sound like a broken record in my praise of Day Break, but almost every episode has been better than the one before it, and tonight’s was no exception. So much happened that I was amazed the writers managed to cover all this territory in the span of an hour.Let’s start off with easily the biggest plot twist of the night: Brett’s mild-mannered sister Jennifer is somehow involved with the conspiracy, too. When I saw Chad get gunned down the second time around, and it revealed that Jennifer was the assassin, I was sure that she couldn’t possibly be acting of her own will. In other words, I had a really hard time believing something as out-of-the-blue as the revelation that she’s really moustache-twirling evil. I thought that I could see her crying as she iced him, and my suspicions were proven correct when the real criminal mastermind — the boss of shadowy guy (who we now know is named Detweiler) — threatened her in his car. Clearly she...
read more
First off, thanks to everyone who pointed me in the direction of ABC’s official Day Break website (check it out here). I was surprised, actually, by how much the FAQ on there gives away: it specifically outlines the rules the time repeating operates by (if he dies, he stays dead – end of story), and it promises to finish up this day’s plotlines within the first season. I expected that last part, but I thought it was unusual for the show’s creators to let us know this right off the bat. Maybe they just don’t want potential audience members to worry that they’ll be dragging this story out forever. And it’s left deliberately unclear whether or not they’ll explain what’s causing the time repeating, although the other interviews that I’ve read suggest that it’s never going to be solved.Watching this second episode, I’m even more impressed with how neatly the pieces of the puzzle fit together. It’s clever how we see eve...
read more
I’ll admit it: When I first saw the commercials for Day Break, my initial thought was, it’s Groundhog Day meets 24! My second thought was, can a show really sustain such a cool but very specific premise over the long run? Groundhog Day did a masterful job of filling up a 100-minute movie with every single gag and philosophical insight that its writers could think of, but wouldn’t the well run dry after just a couple of episodes on a TV show?Now that I’ve seen the first two hours, I understand. The neat twist Day Break pulls on us is that there’s enough happening that the show would be interesting even without the time loop. Detective Brett Hopper has to find a key witness on the run, avoid being framed for the murder of a DA, tell his girlfriend and sister to get out of town or face serious consequences, get payback on the sister’s husband for abusing her, and generally figure out who’s behind the conspiracy to frame him and ruin his life. Got all ...
read more
My thoughts on Day Break coming soon...
read more
Sorry for the lateness, but I realized I should probably make a post concerning the recent news: if you haven’t heard yet, the CW cancelled Runaway last week. Even more disappointing, although there’s a handful of episodes left that haven’t been aired, they’ve chosen to just shelve them and air America’s Next Top Model in the timeslot instead.I was really starting to get hooked on this show and I’ll miss Runaway: it was a surprisingly effective mix of serialized thriller and family drama, and pulling off just one of those on a regular basis is tough enough. I won’t try to second-guess whether or not pulling the plug was justified (the ratings were pretty dismal), but I still think it’s a shame that it couldn’t be afforded more time for an audience build. Maybe in today’s overstuffed marketplace if you can’t start strong right from the beginning it’s already too late.It’s possible that the remaining episodes might be...
read more
I realize it’s not the most important thing to mention at the beginning of my first blog for Runaway, but seriously, Donnie Wahlberg is playing the middle-aged dad who’s described in the police bulletin as “gray-haired?” I wasn’t exactly a New Kids on the Block fan back in the day, but I can clearly remember a time when he was a teen idol encouraging kids to “Hang Tough” and inspiring them that they had the “Right Stuff.” Jeez, I feel old.Although I know it’s a bit late, I really liked the premiere episode of Runaway, and I’m most impressed by the fact that it’s got three or four compelling storylines already. It’s really two genres merged into one: for the dad it’s a conspiracy thriller as he tries to unravel the mystery of who killed his former colleague and framed him and what secrets the murderers are protecting; for everyone else, it’s another “moving to a small town and reconnecting with each ot...
read more
My thoughts on Runaway coming soon.
read more