Harper's Island Eps 1 and 2 - Review

Part 1: Oh boy was this a slog. It starts off well with an early, very gruesome murder which seems to set the tone nicely then sadly devolves into a slasher equivalent of the bad teen dramas you try and avoid that are constantly on E4, kind of like a Halloween 90210. This, sadly, seems necessary to setting up characters, motivations etc for the murder mystery part of the narrative. We do successfully meet the main players and their relation to each other (I won't repeat them all here, watch the episode if you care). The cast are a mixed bag but Elaine Cassidy as Abby (already set up as our "final girl" with a plot identical to that of Neve Campbell's protagonist in Scream) doing an admirable job of carrying the show in these early stages. Also it has to be said that the show did pull off a genuine shock in the episode's second death, killing off a guy who had been firmly set up as a suspect for the murders. Not great, I almost did turn off during the Dawson's Creek moments at the party but thankfully worth getting through, and does get much more engaging than here too but not until...

Part 2: Much improved, THREE really grisly deaths again, much more intriguing development as this viewer, for one, tries to now get a handle on potential killers (my early money: nice guy ex Jimmy who is just far too likeable or the charming English fop with a glimpsed dark side who's dating the flirt, who just happens to have a thing for serial killers). The soap elements are much better handled as we ease into knowing and liking at least one group of characters in my case (those surrounding the groom being much more interesting than the bride's side). Another truly surprising set up of potential murderer, whom you then grow to care for, only to have her bizarrely killed off (off screen though, tut tut, its a god job you're a whodunnit). It is becoming slightly ludicrous that nobody has yet noticed people begin to be murdered on an island with history but that's a minor criticism as no doubt this will have to be addressed next week, suffice to say I'm already hooked, contemplating theories, avoiding spoilers so be warned and eagerly anticipating the third part. I'm loving playing along and really getting into even the soap like parts so if anyone cares to discuss it and is also avoiding looking up the answers online feel free to comment, check me out on Facebook or Twitter or e-mail wils1_uk@hotmail.com. Failing that I may do an investigative piece on the suspects after a couple more eps...

Ep 1: ** (2/5)
Ep 2: **** (4/5)

MM