PILOT REVIEW: The Family

THE FAMILY

Starring: Joan Allen, Rupert Graves, Alison Pill, Margot Bingham, Zach Gilford, Liam James, Floriana Lima, Madeleine Arthur, Rarmian Newton, and Andrew McCarthy

Created by Jenna Bans
Written by Jenna Bans, Directed by Paul McGuigan

THE PREMISE
The Family is new drama set in the small town of Red Pines, Maine. Claire Warren (Joan Allen) is the mayor and has her sights on bigger offices. This takes place ten years after her son disappeared. But that son, Adam (Liam James), has returned after ten years and there's a lot of questions including from the man put to prison for his murder, Hank (Andrew McCarthy). The rest of the Warren family has gone in different directions. Husband John (Rupert Graves) is a successful author, Daughter Willa (Alison Pill) has become her mother's press coordinator while son Danny (Zach Gilford) is a drunk who's not doing much with his life. Rounding out the main cast is a police sergeant who put Hank in jail (Margot Bingham) and local reporter Bridey Cruz (Floriana Lima).

THE REVIEW
Though it sounded similar to Resurrection (which aired in the same timeslot the last two seasons), I was still intrigued by The Family and it started strong with a mood-evoking opening that lay the groundwork for the mystery well. It also, in theory, is a well-constructed drama with lots of layers to the story: a mystery, political intrigue, a possible wronged conviction, and family dynamics. With a strong cast including Joan Allen and Zach Gilford, I had hopes that this would be a strong show.

The problem is I found most of the episode pretty boring and it didn't layer in the intrigue like I thought it would (though it showed a little promise at the very end of the episode). I felt like they raised a ton of questions, conspiracies, and mysteries but none of them were well developed so I didn't find myself caring about what was happening. It's a gripping concept but it wasn't gripping writing and there weren't gripping performances from the actors.

I also felt like the show overused the time jumping, a problem all too familiar with both sitcoms and dramas these days. It felt like not everything in the flashback was necessary for this episode and maybe even the series. Sometimes less is more when it comes to things like that. All in all, this is a show that had all the elements in place but it just didn't come completely together. It's not serious enough to be a quality drama or thrilling enough to be an addicting popcorn show. It's awkwardly in-between those two categories where everything is capable enough but nothing is captivating.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
I didn't watch the second episode tonight. Maybe I still will, but I'm skeptical.