Grade: B
There seems to be a growing divide between cable and subscription television and network television.
As the content produced by channels such as AMC and HBO gets better and better, with game-changing dramas such as “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones,” network television just gets worse and worse.
“Scandal” was okay for a season or two. Then it tanked. “The Blacklist” was OK for an episode or two and then tanked, too.
The art is sacrificed to the altar of the lowest common denominator, and shows end up feeling completely lacking in at least one major area, be it writing, acting or direction. As long as the show is just OK to enough people, it’ll air.
“Gracepoint,” Fox’s new mystery drama miniseries, seems to be changing that.
Maybe I’m pulling this comparison out of thin air, but making the show 10 episodes definitely makes it seem like Fox has picked up on HBO’s “True Detective” model and is running with it.
But far more importantly than format, the content of the show just seems to click. This review was based on just the pilot, but the show’s potential seems very strong.
“Gracepoint” is based on the U.K. show “Broadchurch,” and it’s about a pair of detectives — played by Anna Gunn and David Tennant — trying to uncover who killed a 12-year-old boy in the town.
The show takes place in the quaint little northern Californian town of Gracepoint — a beautiful, by-the-beach, everyone-knows-everyone’s-name kind of place. One of the things this show nails so wonderfully is the atmosphere.
Atmosphere is important for any show but especially so for a suspenseful mystery. Gracepoint is quaint, picturesque and quiet enough to make the death of a young boy all the more petrifying.
In terms of acting, both Anna Gunn and David Tennant do a terrific job — Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller and Tennant as her boss, Detective Emmett Carver. Tennant is reprising the lead role of the show — he was also cast as the lead male detective in the British version of the show.
The show falls flat in some areas, unfortunately. The writing feels cheap and stale sometimes, the direction is sometimes askew and the acting of the supporting cast just doesn’t always match that of the leads’.
I let some of the corny music slide as an intentional choice — this show has an almost Agatha Christie -esque feel to it, and that music heightened that feeling. It made the whole package a little more fun and engaging.
“Gracepoint” isn’t perfect, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction for Fox.
The pilot kept me gripped the whole time, and I’m definitely excited to see where it goes from here.
