S01.E01: Episode One

[formerlyfreedom]

Following the home invasion murder of Matt Skokie - a war vet - and an assault on his wife Gwen, four suspects are brought into custody: Tony Gutiérrez, an impressionable teen who got in way over his head even under the watchful eye of his dedicated and hard-working father, Alonzo Gutiérrez. Hector Tontz, a young man who has lived life on the fringes of society and has made bad decisions just to survive. Carter Nix and Aubry Taylor, two incredibly lost souls whose addiction to drugs and to one another has become destructive and paralyzing. Though the suspects fit a profile, they and their situations are far more complicated than anyone would have initially believed...as is true for the victims themselves. As Russ and Barb Skokie - divorced and estranged - arrive to both bury their son Matt, and seek a measure of justice for his killing, they discover their son may have been far from an innocent bystander in his own murder. Told from the points of view of all those involved, this new drama examines preconceptions on faith, family, gender, race, class and other aspects of our social experience with an approach and perspectives historically underserved in media.

 

 

[Febgirl]

I had the pleasure of attending a screening of the Premiere episode last night, followed by a Q & A with Timothy Hutton and John Ridley.

 

I'm looking forward to discussing this show with everyone on the board, and will share my detailed thoughts after the show airs, but I will say one thing.  For the first time, I felt like I was watching the type of Serialized drama that I usually seek out on Cable, on a network show, which was impressive.

 I also had the opportunity to chat with John Ridley afterwards, and I will say, I'm looking forward to how this story plays out!

Edited February 24, 2015 by Febgirl

[Febgirl]

I believe that the intent is for this particular story to be told in the 10 episodes.  Should the show get renewed- they'll use a different city/crime/cast, like True Detective or American Horror Story.

[Primetimer]

Is this 'prestige drama' whipping down the highway or grinding its gears?

Read the story

[Sarah D. Bunting]

"Barb, who seems like a robot programmed to only speak in internet comments" = hee!

[reggiejax]

Barb probably is a poorly written, very unlikeable character, but she is played by Felicity Huffman, so I am in. The better half of Filliam H. Muffman has always had a hold on me that I couldn't possibly escape. Nor have I ever wanted to.

[Prevailing Wind]

I'm like that about Tim Hutton, so I, too, will be tuned in, whether the story's good or not.

[cassandle]

Me too.  Timothy Hutton is the only reason this show made it on my radar--love that man but I'm really afraid I'm not going to like the show.

[SoSueMe]

I started watching before I read this and I'm not liking it so far. Then I saw Lili Taylor mentioned in the article and that is a deal breaker for me. I cannot stand her.

[Prevailing Wind]

So far, it's a mish-mash of crap.  None of the people are likeable...not even my adored Hutton.  <big sigh>

[formerlyfreedom]

I'm amazed at how much I love Felicity Huffman, and how good she is at this type of brittle, unlikable character. And I just want to keep watching her. I love Timothy Hutton, and his performance was very real. As far as the parents of the wife, Penelope Ann Miller seemed fine, I feel like I've seen her do this role before? And my admiration for W. Earl Brown as an actor grows with every performance, he was fantastic as the father.

 

It seems pretty clear that the young man is being set up somehow. I'm not clear on what is going on with the couple, or with the man arrested with the tattoo sleeves. I may be rewatching this over the weekend.

 

Seems like new characters coming next week from the previews.

[Eolivet]

If "cable drama" is code for bleak situations with unlikable characters and odd camera work....well, I suppose there's a reason I only watch broadcast drama.

[Fisher King]

This reminds me a little of the movie Crash.

 

LOVE Felicity Huffman. Count me in for the long haul.

[memememe76]

I kinda hate cable tv. I pretty much avoid any and all edgy cable shows on edgy cable networks starring edgy movie stars. This show exemplifies why I never watch those shows. The couple really annoys me. 

 

That said, I thought it was well acted (Hutton's breakdown was excellent). I'll keep at it. So weird that just because it's on a broadcast network like ABC, I'm willing to give it more of a chance. Oh well. 

[Kendall]

I'll stay long enough to see Regina King. And maybe during that wait, they will explain if the guy is just obsessed with the thought of a black man getting to have a white woman or if all those pictures are supposedly the healthy lifestyle that these two junkies dream about having in between hits.

[DB in CMH]

Somehow I doubt that a bunch of drug dealers are watching Revenge. Nice stealth promo, ABC!

[car54]

I thought it was really good.   I watched mostly because I respect Hutton and Huffman and I'd seen some promotional appearances they did this week, but I thought it was exceptionally well done and I had a hard time believing it was airing on ABC on a weeknight.

I'll definitely watch it again.

[Morbs]

I'm a big fan of being subtle and having complexity in characters, so I hated the scene with Felicity on the phone with her other son and the pointed way she said "Mexican" after she already referred to him as an illegal earlier so I had picked up that she was a Republican.  Then she starts talking about the death penalty.   And then how people picked on her for being white public housing.  It's like we get it, she sucks.  The next episode she will probably wear a Confederate Flag dress.

 

I can't believe ABC wants to have two murder anthology series on at the same time.  I guess they figure at least one of them will take.

[memememe76]

I think they did a good job of Felicity Huffman's character. Is there a "subtle" example of a racist on television? The series seemed to present a woman who moved beyond her hardships as a poor single mother. Her love for both sons seems genuine and deep. Amongst the 4 parents, I found her the most understandable. I don't get why the wife's parents are so resistant about being interviewed. Hesitancy? I get that. But for the father not to understand why they should use the media mystifies me. Doesn't he want to find the killer? I also found them cold. Yes, their daughter is in a coma. But the sons' parents have already lost their child. 

[Amethyst]

I wanted to like it more than I did, because the show boasts such an amazing cast.  It felt more depressing than gripping.  But I'll give it another shot.  

[Anela]

I don't think I can handle this show right now. I tuned in because of the actors playing the parents, but it's just too depressing, and I've had enough of that. 

[feedee]

I liked it. Sue me.

[neece26]

 

So far, it's a mish-mash of crap.  None of the people are likeable...not even my adored Hutton.  <big sigh>

 

Usually I love Hutton and Huffman but I just thought this show was awful.  Maybe I'm missing something so I will give it another watch.  

[Febgirl]

I liked it, too.

I was surprised at how much they were willing to show on a Network show, like when the junikie almost fellated that guy in the bar.

Felicity Huffman scared the crap out of me.  At the screening I attended, John Ridley spoke to how he wanted to cast this show not in a "diverse' but rather "reflective" way.  I liked that the cast looked like real people, not like actors wearing less makeup to appear "normal."  I was happy to see W. Earl Brown from Deadwood and Benito Martinez from the Shield on the screen.

I'm in.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Febgirl

[2AT]

Is this 'prestige drama' whipping down the highway or grinding its gears?http://previously.tv/american-crime-story/should-you-take-a-ride-with-american-crime/"> Read the story

Thank you Eve! Regarding the addicts, it totally felt like the writers originally envisioned them to be addicted to heroin, but then some network executive read the script and said "hey, Breaking Bad is huge, so let's make them meth heads instead."

I need to watch this episode again. I was too emotionally spent after Scandal and I didn't give it my full attention. I will say that the last few minutes had me intrigued enough to give the series a chance. This didn't hook me from the jump, but this could be a slow burn.

Edited March 6, 2015 by 2AT

[Boundary]

It's easy to fall into caricature whilst using impressive character actors and impressive production values, so I'll try to be hard on this show in the first few weeks. But I was impressed. Obviously, with the speed things moved at, nothing is what it seems. We also weren't given the police POV, which is unusual but it created a sense of incompleteness; I imagine that was the intention. Intrigued enough to give it 4 episodes, my standard period to see if quality deteriorates or improves.

[Former Nun]

Like Felicity Huffman.  Like Timothy Hutton.  For some unfair reason I do not like Regina King.  I thought the writing and acting were excellent.  Liked the mood and the "dirtiness" of many scenes.  Felicity Huffman's contacts seem too dark, too large, and too thick--very distracting.  The hour sped by.

[briochetwist]

 We also weren't given the police POV, which is unusual but it created a sense of incompleteness; I imagine that was the intention. Intrigued enough to give it 4 episodes, my standard period to see if quality deteriorates or improves.

This was one of the things I loved about it,  just because they weren't answering to Barb didn't mean they weren't doing their job.  We saw bits and pieces of the interrogation and investigation, I liked the way it unfolded.  

 

Another poster mentioned that they didn't know why her parents wouldn't talk to the media, but honestly, I don't know why they would.  Just because Barb is unhappy with the police investigation, doesn't mean that they are.  It's totally understandable to me that they wanted to respect their daughter's privacy, why would they reveal to media that she'd been sexually assaulted when there was no need to do so?

 

I guess I'm in the minority, but I loved it.  Then again, my expectations have been pretty low since watching CSI: Cyber.

[BobTV]

I'm a newbie so please be kind. I thought it was OK, a little jumpy for my taste. Certainly good enough to bring me back for a few more weeks. I'm a fan of Huffman and Hutton I think they will make the series work. Anybody else like me and thinks that Barb will be involved in the drug dealing. Her talk of public housing and what she had to do raised a red flag in my mind. She sure wanted to see the suspect, was she looking for someone she knew? Just saying.

[wrestlesflamingos]

The pilot was trying very hard. It has some decent chemistry.

[GaiusB]

I found it as alarming example what happen if you place essentially cable show on network TV. It was not an issue for Secrets and Lies, because it was largely a family drama, but here network standards and censorship sucked life and realism out of it. This show should have a strong language, nudity and violence and predictably only violence made it in. Its hard to take this serious story seriously if parents of victims and gangsters never swear, heroin addicts are making sure to not offend any conservatives during their messy love making and gangsters watch Revenge in their free time.

 

I guess i could be less critical, since  despite all of that i am interested what will happen next and will give this show a chance. But i feel it could be done much better. For start it would be nice to have atleast one likeable character and few multi dimensional ones.

[Constantinople]

It seemed a little slow, but it is just the first episode

If I understand correctly, the kid who rented out the car for $50 was arrested for murder, as was the guy who paid the $50 and drove the male junkie to the mall. If that's all they did, I don't understand the rationale for the charges. Even conspiracy seems like a stretch.

Of course, they really need to lay out more evidence for arresting the male junkie. So far, it seems just be on implication.

I'm also not sure why the female junkie was arrested.

I think one of the detectives, the one who told the murder victim's father about the crystal meth in his son's house, was the City Council President on The Wire.
 

Another poster mentioned that they didn't know why her parents wouldn't talk to the media, but honestly, I don't know why they would.  Just because Barb is unhappy with the police investigation, doesn't mean that they are.  It's totally understandable to me that they wanted to respect their daughter's privacy, why would they reveal to media that she'd been sexually assaulted when there was no need to do so?

I agree. Fundamentally, the media doesn't give a damn about those people; they just care about ratings (or circulation).

As it is, once the press finds out about the crystal meth, they'll have a field day.

[roomtorome]

God, I'm so sick of all the misery and murder and torture on most shows these days; yes, I can recognize the acting is excellent but it's just too much for me at this point -

 

I know the world is in a crappy place with a world of horror, etc but boy, I wish there were some light weight, WELL WRITTEN, clever, well acted shows.  

 

Problem is that anything passing for lightweight "fun" is usually so stupid and insipid, that it's unwatchable.  

 

Oh well - 

[moontrt]

Felicity Huffman is probably the only factor attracting me to this show. I am all in for her given such challenging role even though Barb is totally unlikeable.(But I'm such a fan, like her no matter what...)

I felt a little bit let down after pilot, but that's probably due to my extreme high expectation. A lot of stuff going on, but lack of the kind of intensity that constantly makes you wondering what's next. The jump cut editing gives me headache especially watching it after a long day of work. I prefer that long single shot they used from the car to highway sidewalk, no jump cut, no reaction shots, just follow the flow of their conversation.  And I teared up when the Latino boy was taken away, though I saw it in the promo already.

Overall, I like it. And I actually am mostly curious about the story of the interracial couple.  

Edited March 7, 2015 by moontrt

[North of Eden]

I started watching before I read this and I'm not liking it so far. Then I saw Lili Taylor mentioned in the article and that is a deal breaker for me. I cannot stand her.

OMG...how can you NOT like Lili Taylor?! Love me some Lili Taylor! Edited March 7, 2015 by North of Eden

[Dowel Jones]

I don't understand the rationale for the charges.

 

The police throw the book at everyone and get the lower rungs on the ladder to testify against the others in exchange for dropping/reducing the charges.  That's one method, anyway.

[tennisgurl]

I feel like the most they could do to the Hispanic kid was hold him to scare him into testifying against the guy he loaned the car to. Otherwise, they could hardly get him actually convicted of the murder. It`s not like its against the law to let someone drive your car, how was he supposed to know what would happen after?  

 

Overall...I`ll give it a few more episodes. It has some interesting ideas/performances, but I`ll need to see where they're going with this. The advertisements are really playing this up as the Super Important Show about Race in America, and I`m not sure. It seems more like a TV version of CRASH to me, with Felicity Huffman as the Sandra Bullock character (albeit when with more legit issues to deal with). It better be really interesting, because it is a dour, dour show. Not something to watch for fun, so it better be interesting.

 

I think I`m most interested in the junkie couple right now. And I`m pretty sure that, even though they say they're on Meth, it they seem more like Heroin addicts to me. I've seen Heroin and Meth addicts (you meet a lot of colorful people working in a public library) and their teeth were too nice to be in Meth. It seems like they added the scene of the male junkie beating up that dealer to point us in the direction of him being guilty, but I don't know. How exactly was the wife shot? Maybe it will turn out to be some kind of murder/suicide thing?    

[J-Man]

Why do they bother setting shows in real-life locations (in this case, Modesto, CA) but then just make stuff up? There is no airport in Modesto with commercial passenger service.

[GaiusB]

Since this show is so heavy handed on the race issues, there is a good chance the murderer will be white. Now what would be even better if the male victim was the one who raped and injured his girlfriend, the black guy seen it and stoped him, than he decided to run away, because nobody would beleive him that he is not the murderer. Alternatively it could be his blonde girlfriend who done it and run away for the same reason. She acted like she might have some sexual trauma from the past, so if she witnessed that guy attacking his girlfriend.....

[Chaos Theory]

This show is everything I hoped for and more.

 

I am horrible with characters names but I can already tell that Felicity Huffman's character is going to be my favorite.  She is both hateful and yet there is something below the surface that I just want too like.  I actually found the story of her raising her children in assisted living because her husband gambled away all their money fascinating.  And also explainly-loty why she is so bitter.  She is soooooo going to be my favorite character.  

 

Now the show does suffer some from being on a major network but not as much as would be expected.  It is heavy handed but no so much that it is groan worthy.  Hell Glee was far worse on a daily bases when it came to most everything.  I expect some heavy handed as long as it is kept on a manageable level I will tolerate it.  If the acting is a good as I am hoping it will be I am in for the long haul.  

[persianprincess]

I must be in the minority as I found very little to like about this pilot. It was almost embarrassing to see how hard they were trying to make this into the next big ~prestige drama~ by substituting good, subtle writing and nuanced acting with clever editing and music. A show isn't good just because it's depressing and "gritty". I'll stick around because I do love Regina King, it'll be nice to see a positive representative of Muslims on American television for once, and for the tie-in to Ferguson, so I hope this show can overcome its clunky pilot.

Edited March 8, 2015 by persianprincess

[lucindabelle]

I totally think it needed to be heroin. She needed a fix, you don't go into convulsions or withdrawal from not having speed. It just made more sense if he was going to get heroin for her.

I like the interesting jumpy cutting they do, never seen that before,

I watched it right after broadchurch so two straight hours of darkness murder and pay attention TV. I'm in!

Boy I remember when timothy Hutton was a pretty, tormented teen. Wow. Time flies. (I was a kid but remember the movie)

I loved the scene of him screaming in the bathroom. Seemed so raw and real.

Thought the police were sort of harsh and abrupt. Used to the svu approach. Don't know which is likelier.

After serial podcast, i can totally believe theyd railroad an innocent.

[widespreadpanic]

OMG...how can you NOT like Lili Taylor?! Love me some Lili Taylor!

 

I can't stand her either.  She ruined Six Feet Under for me - jumped for joy when she died.  LOL

[YoureSoUrban]

 

I watched it right after broadchurch so two straight hours of darkness murder and pay attention TV. I'm in!

Right there with you. I have to say, the Brits are slaying with the series I'm into right now.

Timothy Hutton's breakdown - WOW.

I'm down for this show for now but they're going to have to dig deeper in character development and issues of racial/social inequalities. Just scraping the surface on that.

[millennium]

I'll watch again, but I can't stand Felicity Huffman (or her real life husband) so Barb probably comes off as even more vile to me than her character's supposed to be.

 

Is there any show featuring Hispanic characters that Benito Martinez isn't in?   Are there no other middle-aged Hispanic males in the Screen Actors Guild?

 

I've always liked Timothy Hutton.  He's the reason I'll stick around.

 

Timothy Hutton's breakdown - WOW.

 

Yeah.

Edited March 10, 2015 by millennium

[Syndicate]

I liked this a lot!  It reminds me of how drama shows used to do it in the old days, which was a good old-fashioned slow to moderate build which ended with a usually shocking or surprising climax.  Very good acting from everyone as well.  I'm sticking with it for sure.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Syndicate

[Silly Angel]

Oh, my stars, this is horrible. It's like Traffic if Traffic was terrible. It's like Crash if Crash was ... well, Crash kinda sucked. It's like True Detective if True Detective took itself even more seriously. It's a goat-fuck epic proportions and thinks it has something important to say and is so, so wrong. Felicity H is awesome and I am in for the season.

[angelwoody]

Just watched the first episode and wanted to love it for Timothy Hutton but hated pretty much everything about it - especially Felicity Huffman's character. I agree with the poster upthread who bemoaned the dearth of lighter fare that's still clever on TV these days. I'm tired of dark, "gritty," miserable shows. I miss Psych, Monk and Leverage, to name a few...

[Prevailing Wind]

I find it's "RELEVANCE!!!" to be off-putting and, frankly, boring.  When I started thinking how much I'd rather be having a nap, I decided that it's too bad there's not one more episode beyond the 11th..then I could call the show "12 Episodes A-Sleep."  It certainly doesn't make me want to see *anything* else of Ridley's.