Wayward Pines (TV show)

[Ivy]

Is anybody watching this? It's sort of a cross between Lost and Twin Peaks, with a little more sense of humor than either one. Just a shit ton of fun.

I heard about it in the comments on an Onion AV Club review of another show (True Detective, I think) and decided to check it out. I was hooked pretty much immediately. Some decently big names and people I generally like (Matt Dillon in the lead, with Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, and Justin Chatwin in interesting supporting roles).

Apparently it's more of a limited run/miniseries than a series proper, although I've heard rumors about a second season. Having seen through episode 5 I am not really sure how that would even work, but it's so much fun I'd totally watch it anyway.

 

[Ivy]

Oh and it's directed by M. Night Shyamalan, but don't let that put you off! He didn't write it or anything.

 

[BadOctopus]

I've been watching it. My sister-in-law read the book, and she said that the series has followed it pretty closely so far.

I'm enjoying it. I've been looking for a good sci-fi show with a creepy vibe. And the nurse and the sheriff are definitely creepy.

One thing I never really noticed before, though, was Matt Dillon's Cro Magnon brow ridge. You seriously can't see his eyes in full sunlight.

 

[Totenkindly]

Haven't watched it, but a friend here at work brought it up this week and said he was enjoying it.
So I put it on my "maybe" list.

I didn't know Shyamalan was involved, but I won't hold that against it.
(Saving my snark for "The Visit" this September. )
EDIT: He's releasing that movie on 9/11? Wow.

 

[Ivy]

MD really does have a Cro Magnon ridge thing going on! It's quite remarkable. What's also remarkable is how handsome he manages to be considering it. And my husband has taken to calling him "not Bruce Campbell."

 

[BadOctopus]

Yeah, I was skeptical when I found out that Shyamalan was involved. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's crap. George R.R. Martin was one of the head writers for that unbearably cheesy Beauty and the Beast show with Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton, but he also created Game of Thrones. So you never know.

(Unless it's Michael Bay. Then you do always know.)

 

[Totenkindly]

Gasp. What... Beauty & the Beast? No... Can't process.... please.... best show on tv... wait, tv sucked back then... but...

Honestly, I never watched that. It sounded like crazy woman sewer romance drama to me. But Perlman is still around! (He's a friend of Jonathan Frakes from way back, from what I understand. Frakes got Star Trek, Perlman got B&B.)

 

[BadOctopus]

Gasp. What... Beauty & the Beast? No... Can't process.... please.... best show on tv... wait, tv sucked back then... but...

Honestly, I never watched that. It sounded like crazy woman sewer romance drama to me. But Perlman is still around! (He's a friend of Jonathan Frakes from way back, from what I understand. Frakes got Star Trek, Perlman got B&B.)

I watched a couple episodes on Netflix. The romance was slathered on so thick, it made me want to hurl. But I love Ron Perlman. He was without a doubt the best person to play Hellboy. Bless his ugly mug.

 

[Totenkindly]

So this show is on FOX, huh? I will have to see how many episodes the FIOS has available for free, since I get the channel.

I watched a couple episodes on Netflix. The romance was slathered on so thick, it made me want to hurl. But I love Ron Perlman. He was without a doubt the best person to play Hellboy. Bless his ugly mug.

He's been a highlight in some other Del Toro projects too, like Pacific Rim + Blade II. Hilarious stuff.

 

[BadOctopus]

He's been a highlight in some other Del Toro projects too, like Pacific Rim + Blade II. Hilarious stuff.

Ah, yes. When I saw him in Pacific Rim, I think I actually said "Yay!" out loud in the middle of the theater. But so did several other people.

He also had a guest role recently on The Blacklist, but he was totally wasted. They could have done so much more with his character than they did.

 

[Frosty]

I'm watching this but I haven't seen the last episode yet. Almost gave up on it halfway through the first episode(which for some reason I think is awful-a really bad introduction to a series that just gets better as it goes on). Well actually no, I would say that two episodes ago...

The big reveal-the climax

, was absolutely the best(so far). But yeah the show is really watchable if you just suffer through about the first episode and a half.

The nurse is definately creepy.

Though recently her creepiness is starting to be explained... Yawn. But yeah her and the main character... Ethan I think his name is, are decent parts of the show. The actor who plays Ethan-not really sure of his name-is sort of poor at the uh 'flexibility' in the scenes he plays... Doesn't always hit the mark. But for whatever reason he reminds me of Ned Stark... But less lawful good and more... Moral neutral-neutral good?

 

[citizen cane]

I've been watching it and have quite enjoyed it so far.

 

[Totenkindly]

So I started watching this on Sun or Mon, got through five episodes, then blitzed the last five on Thursday. So I found it enjoyable enough to actually watch all of it and fairly quickly, although I wouldn't put it on the level of Breaking Bad dramatically, etc. Decent actors and acting, it's more that the plot/dialogue could be a little conventional/expected at times. (Sometimes the actors seemed to transcend the writing.) I was delighted to see some unexpected faces pop up, like Hope Davis and Mike McShane and Melissa Leo.

The twist was effective around episode 5-6, where everything made sense finally.

I really liked how they edited some of the stuff in the first few episodes to LOOK like it was happening concurrently or consecutively, whereas in actuality scenes jumping between Wayward Pines and the outside world were separated by a space of 2000 years. Very sneaky. But the shots of Terrence Howard and Toby Jones outside Wayward Pines, were assumed to be happening after scenes where you've already seen them IN Wayward Pines, so that was a really effective reframing of the story when it finally happens... and finally all the rules make sense.

I'll be honest, the last five minutes of the series really lessened my feelings towards the whole thing.

Emotionally/Dramatically, it felt like a "twist" ending tossed on just to provide a twist ending. I'm not complaining about how it was handled, I see how they handled it and what they were trying to do -- they shot it all to mirror the first few minutes of the series, except with son taking the role of father -- thoughtful way to handle it, the execution was fine enough; but the reality is that you spend all this time emotionally doing one thing and building to one conclusion, and abruptly you just completely derail that to do what comes off as a shock Twilight Zone ending seemingly just to have a shock ending.... and it doesn't help that Shyamalan is known for his twist endings. So it feels gimmicky, contrived, and jarring not in the enjoyable way... at least it did to me. Anytime a series or story ends leaving me feeling like I wasted my time in getting to the end, well, that's not good.

ANyway, the journey itself was fun.

 

[Ivy]

^All of that!

 

[GIjade]

Is anybody watching this? It's sort of a cross between Lost and Twin Peaks, with a little more sense of humor than either one. Just a shit ton of fun.

I heard about it in the comments on an Onion AV Club review of another show (True Detective, I think) and decided to check it out. I was hooked pretty much immediately. Some decently big names and people I generally like (Matt Dillon in the lead, with Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, and Justin Chatwin in interesting supporting roles).

Apparently it's more of a limited run/miniseries than a series proper, although I've heard rumors about a second season. Having seen through episode 5 I am not really sure how that would even work, but it's so much fun I'd totally watch it anyway.

That show was exactly like my life.

 

[anticlimatic]

I wasn't really happy with anything that happened after shit hit the fan. Good series though, and I'd probably watch a season 2, though I wish season 1 ended better. I feel like they went for a half-ending, half-continuation lead in, and I hate when that happens. Especially when the bulk of the intrigue is carried by a central mystery, and then solved right at the end. There's directions you can go, but it's going to be a new formula. Whether it's good or bad depends on the writers. Can they successfully take it in a new direction? Or are they going to pull a true detective season 2? Remains to be seen.

I've heard it compared to The Leftovers, which is written and directed by Lost's Damon Lindelof (so it's pretty much doomed to have a whole lot of promise and a shit ending). I actually enjoyed season 2 of that show way more than season 1- though I wasn't really crazy about season 1 at all, and I'm pretty sure the endgame will collapse on itself eventually a la LOST.

 

[GIjade]

I've heard it compared to The Leftovers,

The episode "The Assassin" was also like my life. Any TV show or movie where the main character can't get out of the place they're in, but can't explain where that place is, is like my life.

 

[Totenkindly]

Season 2 of Wayward Pines started last night. I haven't watched it yet. I was pretty unhappy with the last episode or two in Season 1, especially the ending; the first 5-6 episodes were decent fun, and then it just kind of went off the rails.

Anyway. Not sure if there is a story here for another season, but I'll watch the opener and see if what amounts to a partial reboot changes anything.

I wasn't really happy with anything that happened after shit hit the fan. Good series though, and I'd probably watch a season 2, though I wish season 1 ended better. I feel like they went for a half-ending, half-continuation lead in, and I hate when that happens. Especially when the bulk of the intrigue is carried by a central mystery, and then solved right at the end. There's directions you can go, but it's going to be a new formula. Whether it's good or bad depends on the writers. Can they successfully take it in a new direction? Or are they going to pull a true detective season 2? Remains to be seen.

I've heard it compared to The Leftovers, which is written and directed by Lost's Damon Lindelof (so it's pretty much doomed to have a whole lot of promise and a shit ending). I actually enjoyed season 2 of that show way more than season 1- though I wasn't really crazy about season 1 at all, and I'm pretty sure the endgame will collapse on itself eventually a la LOST.

I'm a big fan of the Leftovers, I really enjoyed both seasons and look forward to see what will happen at the end. Yes, I'm nervous about Lindleof, but he actually pulled through here -- and I think comparing Leftovers to LOST, you can see a LOT more focus, keeping things restrained to a core plot with interweaving subplots that all support the main plot, etc. LOST was kind of just like a bunch of crap thrown into the kitchen sink, and it lost a lot of its focus by the end despite some elements being really interesting.

I think he has an idea for where it's going, and he was the one that requested just one more season; there were other things that could be done with the series, but he felt like the story that was being told could be done in three seasons and he restrained himself to that purposefully. So I think that is a good thing -- it shows intention and planning, versus just haphazard plotting. (There was a bunch of filler in LOST, in comparison.) Some of the character episodes of The Leftovers were among the best drama I've seen on TV (and were extremely focused); and that whole thing between Kevin and Patti was pretty inspired despite how it could have really become crap; I felt deeply for both of them by the end of that subplot. Of course, the acting is pretty top-notch.

 

[Ivy]

I've never seen a show that did mood-setting as well as The Leftovers. I love it.

I didn't realize WP was already back! Hope I can pick it up on demand.

 

[Totenkindly]

Watched the Season 2 opener, and trying to be open-minded.

The thing is, the best part of Season 1 was the mystery -- everyone was busting their brains trying to figure out what Wayward Pines was. Once that mystery was resolved, the show lost some of its luster.

Here, we already know the secret of Wayward Pines. Jason Patric is the new lead, who doesn't know the secret and is trying to get up to speed... but Episode 1 seems to be one of those situations where no one from either side tells him the secret simply because the plot is supposed to keep him in the dark for awhile. Basically it's all the same as before, except more totalitarian, and Ben is leading a rebellion. So it's become more a dystopian drama than a mystery at this time; in fact, technically you don't really need to have watched Season 1, in order to watch this; you could just start with Season 2.

Patric is decent. Hope Davis and Carla Gugino are still around in this episode; the writing is average, but they elevate the scenes they have together. A welcome addition is Kacey Rohl (Abigail from "Hannibal"), but her role is kind of flat at the moment. The head young guy running things is kind of weak as an actor.

So... jury is still out. What I hope is that they can add new elements of mystery, things we didn't learn from Season 1. At the moment, it just feels like a run-of-mill dystopian future story.