From time to time I wrote here about the TV shows I was enjoying (or not). There were some really good programmes recently that caught my attention, including "Silo", "Foundation" and "Pluribus" to name just a few, however they all have in common a fact that they were not overlong and were cleverly designed to keep the viewer's attention. That is how I got tricked into watching "From" on a friend's suggestion, not really knowing anything about it except that people who created "Lost" are behind it. Now, I am not even sure is that good recommendation or not, since after two seasons "Lost" eventually slid into a nonsense and was way too difficult for me to follow. But, hey, the premise looked good, the trailer was fine, so here I go, like a sucker, thinking oh well it must be good. Just to be reminded by my other half that I usually dislike TV shows that go on forever and should probably sign a contract to oblige me to watch it completely.
A very exciting trailer and first few episodes of "From" set a tone of a horror/mystery story that was initially thrilling to watch: Matthews family arrives in some strange little town in the middle of nowhere and can't find their way out. There is a tree on the road blocking their way and no matter where they drive, they always end up at the same place, with resigned locals accepting this is their destiny, since everybody here got stuck the same way. Every single person here was driving elsewhere and got a tree blocking the road, just to find themselves back to the little town again and again. On top of all this, everybody must be indoors after sundown, because there are some shape-shifting monsters (pretending to be human) attacking and killing them.
The cast is excellent - there is Harold Perrineau as sheriff Boyd, Ricky He as his deputy Kenny, Shaun Majumder as a local priest, Chloe Van Landschoot as the only doctor/nurse, Avery Konrad as a young Sara who hears the voices (telling her to kill people) and Scott McCord as a creepy Victor who is here the longest and seems never grew up from his traumatic childhood. My favourite is Elizabeth Saunders as a straight-talking, no-nonsense leader of Colony House as the town is divided into two groups of survivors. While some people prefer to live in their own, heavily protected houses, others decide to live in a kind of hippie commune called Colony House. What is safer or better, depends on your point of view. My least favourite characters are actually Matthews family themselves, who are I guess meant to be everyday ordinary family but feel extremely annoying to me and I'm glad my family was never like this. We are supposed to sympathise with them but during all this danger and mayhem they mostly whine and behave in this touchy-feely way that I had never encountered in real life. Example: Jim and his wife Tabitha have argument about why he never opens and expresses his emotions instead of pretending that he is strong. Two minutes later he breaks down and cries a river, while his wife (who was crying in a previous scene) is now supporting him. And don't let me even start about spoiled and privileged kids who are constantly pampered to the point of growing into self-centred narcissists (ok, maybe the little kid less than his teenage sister who is insufferable).
The first season had only 10 episodes, which seems like a reasonable length to me but alas, dear reader, the curse of "Lost" now started to repeat itself: in attempt to keep the audience glued to the screen, script writers keep on piling mystery on top of mystery without really explaining anything or coming to any conclusion. A little bit like Scheherazade who was weaving "One Thousand and One Nights" without end in sight. At the end of the first season, we are left without a single explanation why are these people stuck, who are the night monsters, why is this happening at all, etc, etc. The first season actually ends with the arrival of bus full of new characters who will (I expect) now will be either new victims or new elements of the plot. There might be some people who enjoy this and love guessing what is happening and what will happen - however, I have seen this already in "Lost" and it didn't work out so well, in fact I deserted that show after a while, finding it confusing and manipulative. Like the script writers think of themselves too clever to actually bother with any conclusions, dropping hints and suggestions all the time without any explanations. So here I am, halfway trough the season two and already frustrated because the series just going on and on without any logical explanation. I guess we will eventually find out they are all dead and this is purgatory. That should teach me not to be a sucker and accept every good trailer.
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