I know Harper's Island has been panned by everyone from television critics to deranged psychopathic killers with a penchant for islands, but I don't care. For eleven weeks now, I've followed along on this silly ride, and I've been enjoying the hell out of it. It's the horror-mystery aspect of it. Sure, I'm a little disappointed that the killer (so far) isn't one of the main cast members, but I'm having fun watching the cast get taken out "one by one," as creepy-little-girl says each week in the intro.I was always a huge fan of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None. Plus, I'm a sucker for a long-form story in television. I think this is one of those things television has over the movies. You can't take thirteen hours to tell a mystery in the theaters. That's one of the reasons I'm never as impressed with the done-in-one shows. You have this format that allows for these massively detailed long stories so why not use it? I don't care if you don't think Americans have the attention span for it; I do. And aren't you supposed to be programming for me?
It's a shame that Harper's Island has such terrible ratings, because I think it would be a lot of fun to have a murder mystery or horror maxi-series on the schedule every summer. After all, summertime at the movies is about popcorn, explosions (Hi, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), and having fun. Acting and writing are so ... secondary. So why not embrace the same kind of fun on the small screen? It's certainly better than inundating us with more reality.
A show like Reunion from a few years back would have probably played out nicely in the summer. Look at the success of a lot of these lighter cable series. People want to feel good and have fun when it's 110 degrees outside, and that includes a good scare now and then. Or at least it does to me. Maybe they won't judge Harper's Island too harshly this year, considering that the networks are setting new ratings lows week after week. It didn't help that the story started off really slow either.
All I know is I got a huge kick out of seeing Jim Beaver (Supernatural) outside of his Bobby role and I didn't recognize anyone else in the cast. It's fun guessing who's going to die next (hell, I'd rather do it about fictional characters than face all the deaths entertainment has given us the past week or so) and trying to figure out how the hell they're going to get out of this mess.
My wife went through four theories on the identity of the killer, and is up to three on who John Wakefield's kid might be. Give me some good tension, good clever death scenes, and a creepy little girl and I am set. If I can't have Bobby and the boys of Supernatural, I can spend some time on Harper's Island. At least I know it's not demons ... I think.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-29-2009 @ 11:11AM
Sean said...
I love this show! I'm glad CBS at least ran all the episodes.
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6-30-2009 @ 6:39PM
Roxanne said...
I too, am loving this show! But all good things must come to an end, as they say... I do have to admit that I was disappointed that Jimmy may be in on this. I was glad when Abby and he got to be honest about their feelings with each other. Can't wait to see how everything ends on July 11. Glad to see I'm not the only one out there being a loyal viewer.
6-29-2009 @ 11:12AM
Martin said...
I knew the killer the moment the show started, but I have really liked it. I actually liked the 'slow' start, it made the series feel really unrushed, and helped it last, and it wasn't really ever dull. I do have one problem with the show now that they revealed "the other killer" if it is even Jimmy, none of that all made sense. Abby's dad has been tracking Wakefield for years since he shot him, and even had police records of Jimmy. Why would he tell Abby hes cool with Jimmy and basically save Jimmy's life for her if he even for a second suspected Jimmy of being an accomplice!?
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6-29-2009 @ 11:53AM
miller980 said...
I too have enjoyed the show. The few people I know who have watched it have really liked it. The whole Wakefield as the killer was a little disappointing; I was hoping it was one of the main cast, but it has been fun watching the twists and turns. I just hope that the finale not only identifies why Wakiefield (and friend(s)) killed all those people, but how they could do all of this with no one noticing - though I suspect they'll just say "they used the tunnels."
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6-29-2009 @ 11:28AM
Jables said...
My money is still on Henry as the other killer. Although when I've watched most of the episodes, it's background noise while I'm doing something else (surfing internet, etc.) so I may have missed a few plot points.
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6-29-2009 @ 11:39AM
TheH2s said...
This show started out pretty slow but every week it gets better and better. I freakin love this show and you know what screw the ratings!!
I'm happy to see that they put the show on Netflix every week too, maybe get an audience through that.
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6-29-2009 @ 11:38AM
superbagman said...
The worst thing they did was showing the photo of Wakefield early on in the run of the series. As soon as I saw the photo and knew that it was Callum "Leobin" Keith Rennie I instantly knew that Wakefield was alive and clearly was going to show up later. It took a LOT of tension out of the early episodes. Other than that and some of the stupid character moments (running away from the killer with a knife when you have a shotgun) it's been a great summer treat.
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6-29-2009 @ 11:40AM
Dan said...
Add me to the list of fans. I haven't missed one...this last one is on my DVR waiting my attention.
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6-29-2009 @ 11:50AM
martin cota said...
Suberbagman, you got that right. He has a knife, and you have a loaded shotgun with two shells in it. Why the hell did she run to let Shane get killed. Wakefield was preoccupied, and she grew up shooting with Daddy, she could have at least critically injured him, but nope!!! That really did bother me! especially 2 minutes later when she wastes the shells on the door....
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6-29-2009 @ 11:54AM
nina said...
yea each week gets better and better and last week was sad with cal and chloe but still good! i cant wait for the finale. I also loved jim beaver playing a role outside of bobby-major fun. Also, i thought it was cool that the actress who played Trish played the original (and better!) Ruby in Supernatural too....i love it!
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6-29-2009 @ 5:44PM
Odessa said...
Thank God! I'm not the only one who watches. I have some issues a few things too, but hey it's fun to watch. I save it for Sunday nights.
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6-29-2009 @ 12:25PM
bullymom said...
So glad to hear I'm not the only one who just LOVES this show!! I've even gotten hubby interested in it, and hope it comes out on DVD soon after it ends so we can watch the whole thing together. I for one would love to see this type of murder mystery program on a regular basis.
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6-29-2009 @ 12:29PM
Michael said...
I really like the show too, and if Dollhouse was renewed because of the fans and not the ratings maybe this can come back too. Wakefield as the killer really disappoints me but CBS has said that one of the original 25 cast members is the killer so I'm crossing my fingers that someone is working with Wakefield (or would be mad that he's helping out and kill him for it). Jimmy being revealed as the killer in the final episode would be very disappointing and lackluster because they teased that he has done something wrong. I want to be shocked when the killer is revealed, like a "how the hell did I not get that? Wow that was uncalled for!"
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6-29-2009 @ 12:36PM
Donna said...
I love this show too. The heck with the ratings, it's the best thing on this summer. I also think a long format murder-mystery would make a great summer replacement every year.
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6-29-2009 @ 12:38PM
clerocks said...
I think Henry is the other killer too, because he is the least likely.
He was cute on UGLY BETTY (as Henry).
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6-29-2009 @ 12:52PM
RTMS said...
I've recently gotten hooked on it as well in the last few weeks, and it's been enjoyable so far. It's my kind of thriller, not too gory or scary.I will say some decisions by the characters have been silly though not to mention that no one can hit the broad side of a barn with a gun. All those missed shots at close range? Rolls eyes! And Trish actually bails to the bathroom instead of shooting Wakefield while he was fighting Shane? Hmmm
I have to question the reviewer about not recognizing anyone in the cast. Hello? Christopher Gorham, Popular and Ugly Betty fame?
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6-29-2009 @ 12:58PM
Benjamin Gmeiner said...
I kinda liked the first few episodes, but the current one (11) was a dealbreaker for me... How many times did one of those kids stand in front of that wannabe uber-killer with a loaded gun and instead of shooting the guy in the face RAN AWAY (and let fisherboy fight with a pocketknife against a bushwhacker).
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6-29-2009 @ 1:25PM
Ken CIeszykowski said...
Exactly why Twin Peaks was so good!
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6-29-2009 @ 12:56PM
Flowers said...
I agree fully. I've enjoyed every episode. Yes, some of it was predictable, but horror movie writers have been making a living off of predictable for years.
I'm sad it's almost over, and would love to see another season with a new setting and cast like survivor.
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6-29-2009 @ 1:02PM
Heather said...
I completely agree. This show is very addictive and I was disappointed when CBS moved it to Saturday night. Fortunately for me, I live in Canada and Global did not change the night. With only 2 episodes left and 2 weeks to go before they will be aired I am scouring the message boards for clues to the answer to my 3 questions. Who is Wakefield's child? Is that child the other killer? What is the motive this time? Can't wait for the ending. Perfect summer entertainment. Wish they would do more of these!
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