[TV] Harper's Island

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Hattori_Hanzo's Avatar
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04-15-09
Did you guys watch this show last week? It was the premiere - a bit of a slasher/thriller movie translated into a TV miniseries which is an awesome concept.

I loved the premiere and I'd definitely recommend it, check out the premiere ep online and the second one on Thursday night.
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04-23-09
Saw the first episode, and I'm DVRing the rest of it as it goes. Interesting idea. The premier was okay; was pretty surprised at some of the things they got away with, though.

I'll probably watch another episode or two and see if it sucks me in a bit more.



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The Adventure Starts Here!
04-23-09
I saw both episodes so far. It seems fun and yet stays fairly scary at spots. They toy with you in all the classic ways -- false scares, jumpiness of characters that mirror your own jumpiness while watching, etc.

And there are already five murders. Insane how fast it's moving in so many ways. And of course, all the tons of red herrings. Haven't a clue who the murderer is, but it has a fun, modern-day Agatha Christie feel to it....

Worth still watching for me. (Oh and Yods: If you get On Demand, watch it that way -- no commercials! Just be sure to watch episodes before they fall off the On Demand list!)



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In the Beginning...
04-23-09
Here's what I said about it last week:

I just watched the second episode of Harper's Island, and I have to say, this show better start wising up about how things happen in the real world, because it's embarrassing itself. The labyrinthine soap opera plot is ho-hum at best so far, and the murders just don't make sense. They're terribly brutal, but fleeting with little or no suspense or set-up... they just happen. And after five murders on a tiny island with a homicidal history, there would be law enforcement crawling over that island (not to mention, wedding-goers fleeing to the airport for the first Cessna out of there).

So yeah. It better pull a Scarecrow and grow a brain soon, or I'mma quit watching.



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The Adventure Starts Here!
04-23-09
They haven't found the bodies yet -- they're mostly in the woods, etc. And the previews for tonight's episode make it clear that they're now finding the bodies....

And for me, I cling to the "campy" and "fun" aspects. Sure, it's not all that realistic, but neither were Agatha Christie stories in a lot of ways. This is that type of story: ensemble cast, set in an enclosed area (Christie had a few on islands, etc.), with a murderer on the loose.

Just because we don't know WHY the murders are happening yet doesn't mean there is no motive.

I'm giving it a few more episodes, if only because it's been fun.



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In the Beginning...
04-23-09
Originally Posted by Austruck
They haven't found the bodies yet -- they're mostly in the woods, etc. And the previews for tonight's episode make it clear that they're now finding the bodies....
Yeah, I was glad to see in the preview that it's heading in a "group survival" kind of scenario, instead of the killer just picking them off unknowingly one-by-one. I guess I just tend to think, if it's a small island as the series suggests (particularly with such a violent history), that a missing person - much less five - would be pretty immediate news. All of the victims so far have at least one acquaintance to wonder where they were.

I gotta tell you, though. The slamming door is the only thing in the trailer that's got me watching tonight's episode. Even before I was through the last episode, I was already figuring that the killer would turn out to be one of the guests - and probably the least-suspected one - simply to ensure the most shocking (but ultimately unfounded) reveal. Shows like this love to use shallow sleight-of-hand.

But if it's a ghostly force... now there's something worth watching! Because not only would that shoulder a little less burden of believability, but I think you get better "fear" mileage out of a group of people trying to survive supernatural danger.



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The Adventure Starts Here!
04-23-09
It definitely has the feel of a good semi-supernatural horror, doesn't it? A Jeepers Creepers feel to it (broadcast television version, though).

Yeah, I'm curious enough (still) to keep watching....



martian leader's Avatar
RightUpTheLittleTramps@ss !
04-23-09
Love the show.
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In the Beginning...
04-24-09
Yeah, so I'm still underwhelmed. Although I think the tension between Richard, Hunter, Trish, and Trish's father could be a little bit more substantial, it's easily the most interesting thing that's going on right now. The stuff about Kelly is just lingering, and regarding the truth about her "situation," I think Abby became a true believer about the reappearance of John Wakefield MUCH too quickly.

Plus, how in God's name are there still undiscovered dead people? I'm sorry, but on an island, nobody would be able to go missing for long without someone getting alerted. And in the case of these folks, given that everyone is pretty much staying in the same building, I would think a disappearance would be noticed next-day.

Oh, and why was the Sheriff using a flashlight in Kelly's house at the end of the episode? Don't they have electricity? (I hate that crap in horror/suspense programs.)