Airdate: June 27th, 2009Episode Title: "Splash"
Episode #: 11
Starring: Elaine Cassidy, Christopher Gorham , Katie Cassidy, Cameron Richardson, Adam Campbell, CJ Thomason
Harper's Island is the most underrated summer series of 2009. An original idea for a television program, Harper's Island is a twisted whodunit murder mystery following the guests of a wedding party on an island off the coast of Seattle. The island has a tradgic past, where a serial killer John Wakefield murdered six people, including the mother of the main character, Abbe Mills (Elaine Cassidy). The bride, Trish Wellington (Katie Cassidy) and the groom Henry Dunn (Christopher Gorham) have their wedding disrupted when numerous guests go missing and end up dead. The cast is supported by the best man, Sully (Matt Barr) and Maid of Honor, Shea (Gina Holden). Harper's Island has a bit of everything, including some humor, like the rivalry between Sully and Cal Vandeusen (Adam Campbell) over Cal's girlfriend Chloe (Cameron Richardson). But it also has a bit of forbidden love, between Abbe and her old flame Jimmie (CJ Thomason), a local boy who was barred from her by her father, the sheriff (Jim Beaver). But without giving much a way, for those of you who haven't been watching, go to CBS.com immediately and start. This is a terrific series that started out slow, but has really picked up momentum in the recent weeks. We as viewers love murder mysteries, that's why shows like CSI and Law and Order are so popular, and Harper's Island gives us a chance to play detective, but throws in the unforeseeable twists and turns of a serialized drama. The cast, played by all basically unknown actors and actresses, do a marvelous job of pulling you into the storyline. Sure, it's not perfect, and the story features a few hand-waves (parts of the storyline that are irrationally blown by for convenience sake), particularly in this episode when Cal, who had been shot by the unseen killer, was almost magically and instantly healed by Sully, who allegedly was talked through the procedure of removing a bullet. But besides the occasional hiccup the story has kept me guessing and even through eleven of the thirteen episode run, I still have no idea who the killer is. But for those of you not wishing to spoil anything from the first eleven episodes, I suggest you stop reading here.
"Splash" was slightly less impacting than I had hoped. The big reveal from the previous episode, that John Wakefield was alive and kicking, sputtered out by the pseudo-crisis cliffhanger. A pseudo-crisis cliffhanger is a situation where the viewer is left with the sense of a character being in dire peril, only to have the danger resolved almost immediately following a commercial break or into the next episode. This being, Wakefield ran off at the start of the episode, when Henry and Danny came out of the woods, essentially saving Abbe conveniantly. The episode was heavy hitting, with a lot of "who is next?" moments. Wakefield (Callum Keith Renne) goes on a tear in this one, and his silent demeanor and wicked smile gives you chills down your spine. However, his invisibility is a little ridiculous. He has a sword and they have shotguns, and all of the characters suddenly fall victim to the storm trooper effect (a cliche phenomenon in which all characters become ineffective in firing their weapon accurately. This gets it name from the "Star Wars" saga, where stormtroopers, the best trained shooters in the universe, could kill minor red-shirt characters, but were somehow unable to ever hit a major character). Abbe, Trish, Henry, Sully, Danny, and Cal all have clean shots at Wakefield and they all miss. In fact, I don't understand how Wakefield WASN'T shot, especially when Trish fired through the door when he was directly on the other side of it. However, the show has let us know that there is another killer besides Wakefield lurking in our midst, and I still have NO idea who it might be. This episode promotes Jimmy as the potential assistant to Wakefield, which immediately makes me feel like he is a red-herring, trying to dupe us into believing he is the second killer. And he was conveniently not present when people were dying throughout this series. But if I had to pick a winner, my money is on that of...drumroll...Abbe Mills herself. What a twist that would be? If the main character, the good girl we've watched unravel through the course of this entire, traumatizing experience was the perpetrator? Abbe could very well be lashing out at an island that has caused her so much pain and misery. Who knows, it certainly would be a good shocker for us all. But remember, you heard it here first. All in all, I very much look forward to the Harper's Island finale in two weeks (July 11th) from 9-11 PM on CBS. I suggest you catch up by then if you can find the time, we're sure to be in for a wild ride with a high body count.
Scores are below, each episode score is calculated based on the performance of the characters, judgment of the storyline both as a standalone and as part of the series as a whole. Also, how creative was the episode, was it original and thoughtful or unimaginative and old hat? And finally the impact of the episode, how well do it move you, excite you, make you laugh, or make you cry. Basically, when those credits rolled, did it meet your expectations?
Episode Score (out of 10): 8.6
Characters: B
Story: B
Creativity: B
Impact: B
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