Watch This Show: Harper’s Island
It is unfortunate that my first TV show recommendation is for a show that will never have a second season. However, it is still worth recommendation for its outstanding, and seemingly only, season. Harper’s Island is the story of a group of people that congregate at the titular place to attend a wedding only to find that once they get there a series of brutal murders begins. Don’t worry, I’ll try to keep this article as spoiler free as possible.
Update: Just watched the finale and added a bit at the end of the article reflecting that.
The series starts off as a standard whodunnit murder-mystery but then as the killings ratchet up the more recent, and far superior, episodes shift to what’s essentially a slasher film played out on TV. What’s strange about this show is that the “mystery” was never really a mystery, as the killer is entirely expected. There is a twist however, which I will not reveal, at the end of episode eleven (titled “Gasp” as all the titles of the episodes are sounds related to the main death of the week, for example: Sploosh, Gurgle, and Thwack). I’ve seen it better described as a horror/drama which I think fits it better and the show would’ve done better had it realised that earlier instead of pushing “mystery” for so long.
The complaint I have about it being kind of predictable so far and slow to start off with is quite telling seeing as I am still recommending it because despite its flaws I am still entertained by the plot, I like the cast, and the deaths are satisfactorily gruesome (for a TV show). I am a fan of horror so I also just might have a soft spot in my heart for psychopath goes on a killing spree stories. I will say if you start off and want to give up on it early on trust me keep going with it, it gets far better than where it began.
Speaking of the cast I must mentioned a couple standouts. The groom is played by Christopher Gorham
who has for years been that guy in that show that I really liked that was canceled. I guess his streak is alive and well with this show’s cancellation. Though, to be honest, I don’t know how they would do a second season unless they came up with new characters, a new setting, and a new mystery at this point but then again the killer always comes back for more in horror movies why not here. The bride is Katie Cassidy who was great as Ruby in Supernatural which I love and will most definitely be the subject of a future TV recommendation article. She was later replaced as Ruby by an actress that I liked far less. There’s another Supernatural alum here in Jim Beaver who’s also good as the Sheriff. The probable reason for the casting of the Supernatural people is that both shows are filmed in British Columbia. That just earns the show a couple bonus points in my book (yay for Canada).
I want to write more but I’m constricted by not being able to write spoilers. I might write a full season review or something after Saturday’s series finale.
Post Finale Update: Don’t worry, no spoilers here. I wrote above about predictability and the plot not really being, or needing to be, a mystery. With one twist at the end of the first hour of the finale you can throw at least part of that out the window. I should have expected that twist because it, or something akin to it, has happened in dozens of horror movies. But it was still satisfying and I must say that I really liked the actor or actress when they had to suddenly switch to evil mode. Finally, the deaths in the last episode didn’t really live up to the standard set by the series save one; I won’t give it away but it reminded me of a magic trick from a very popular movie last year.
Anyway, my final thoughts now that the season/series is over: its slow in bits but immensely entertaining and satisfying. I will be buying the DVD when it comes out definitely.
