S01.E01: X Marks the Spot

[lorikauai]

The imaginary friend Drill who gets kids to play games that hurt their parents was very horror movie-ish and overall the show felt like something I've seen a bunch of times already but it kept my attention for the whole hour which is all I need from a summer show. I'm in. 

[joelene]

I'm only five minutes in but I gotta ask who the hell would build that tree house for their five-six year old kid?!? That thing just screamed accidental death. I got high anxiety just looking at it.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm only five minutes in but I gotta ask who the hell would build that tree house for their five-six year old kid?!? That thing just screamed accidental death. I got high anxiety just looking at it.

 

From the crappy rope ladder to the lack of a door to the flimsy flooring (which looked like it was flimsy before handyman-extraordinaire Harper did whatever she did to it), it's basically a deathtrap.  Even the mom had difficulty climbing the ladder.  And it's not like there was an elder sibling around that used it.  Maybe it was there when they bought the place, but even then they should have removed the rope ladder to keep kids out of it.

[joelene]

Right?! Dear lord.

Well I just finished and the mystery and Lily Rabe were enough to grab me for at least a few more weeks. I wanna know who/what Drill is! The rest of the characters were cardboard cutouts, though.

Oh and lol to the doctor calling for security because a patient walked out of the hospital? Is that really a thing? Although I guess since he had severe memory loss that finding him was the right thing to do. It just made me laugh for a second. "We got a walkout!" Oh no! Nurse, strap him to the bed!

Edited June 3, 2015 by joelene

[Stella MD]

 

Oh and lol to the doctor calling for security because a patient walked out of the hospital? Is that really a thing? Although I guess since he had severe memory loss that finding him was the right thing to do. It just made me laugh for a second. "We got a walkout!" Oh no! Nurse, strap him to the bed!

That's actually somewhat believable, especially if he doesn't have capacity to leave AMA. However, I laughed out loud when, faced with a patient with unknown medical history who is spouting sheer nonsense, she sits right down with furrowed brow and is immediately willing to believe his crazy notions, rather than smiling politely while working him up for his acute psychosis. I mean, just working the odds, it's probably much more likely that he's a schizophrenic who came off his meds or is acutely delirious because of an electrolyte imbalance, rather than his reports of aliens attacking through the lights being a legitimate concern.

[Anela]

Everyone keeps mentioning this, but I was taken aback by Drill.  Drill?!?  What kind of alien names their kid that?

I think it's supposed to be Drew - that's the character mentioned on IMDB, and it sounded like one of the girls used that name in previews.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I think it's supposed to be Drew - that's the character mentioned on IMDB, and it sounded like one of the girls used that name in previews.

 

It sure sounds like 'drill', so much so that is what Claire typed in her search to find similar cases.

[Dot Com]

The closed captioning says Drill as well.

[Anela]

I know. I was just saying that IMDB says Drew, and I coyld have sworn that a little girl used that name in the previews.

[Andromeda]

Watched it last night, and really enjoyed it! A lot of plot was into a single episode. I hope there's enough coming to sustain it.

Creepy -- borderline horror, but also aliens! Woot! Sort of X-Filish, too. I adore Lilly Rabe, so I'm super pumped to watch her in this show.

[Stella MD]

I initially heard "Drew" as well, but I think that's just Harper's annoying little-kid diction. I was actually somewhat irritated that Harper's mom survived the fall because it meant we would get more of lispy, not-too-bright Harper. How old is she supposed to be, anyway? Anyone old enough to have a rickety treehouse two stories off the ground should be a little smarter that something bad is happening when Mommy isn't moving and has blood pouring out of her head.

[alias1]

I found that first kid really annoying, too (Harper, is it?).  The other kid (Minx) was more menacing, but that might be a result of being named Minx.  I have to believe she is being teased about the name and will probably become a full blown psychopath later in life.

 

I'm not as enamored of the show as most people here.  There's not a lot to watch these days  so I'll probably stick with it.  I am glad that they didn't drag out who the John Doe was.  I have zero experience with Lilly Rabe so she is not a draw for me.  I keep reading how great she is.  So far I have seen nothing exceptional (I have only the first episode to go on, though)

[Dot Com]

The first kid, Harper, was mentioned as being 6 years old. I got to thinking that maybe John Doe could actually be an alien clone or something of the husband and not actually the husband. That would be a twist.

[Brattinella]

I found that first kid really annoying, too (Harper, is it?).  The other kid (Minx) was more menacing, but that might be a result of being named Minx.  I have to believe she is being teased about the name and will probably become a full blown psychopath later in life.

 

I'm not as enamored of the show as most people here.  There's not a lot to watch these days  so I'll probably stick with it.  I am glad that they didn't drag out who the John Doe was.  I have zero experience with Lilly Rabe so she is not a draw for me.  I keep reading how great she is.  So far I have seen nothing exceptional (I have only the first episode to go on, though)

The VERY BEST thing about Lily Rabe is that she is NOT Emma Roberts!

[BooksRule]

I didn't realize that this show had started already.  I had thought about skipping it, because I figured that it was another 'haunted house' plot.  Until I read an online review and read the comments here about the first episode, I didn't realize that it was based on a Ray Bradbury story ('Zero hour').  If I had come here first (before I read the review) and read the names 'Minx' and 'Drill' I might have eventually remembered where I knew them from.  I'll have to try to catch this in a rerun or online.  Now I'm interested (although I figure that it's probably extremely loosely based on the original source)..

Edited June 5, 2015 by BooksRule

[alias1]

The VERY BEST thing about Lily Rabe is that she is NOT Emma Roberts!

Sorry.  I have no idea what that means.

[Brattinella]

Sorry.  I have no idea what that means.

 

Oh, I am sorry.  I was referring to them both (Lily Rabe and Emma Roberts) being on American Horror Story.  I forget we all don't watch the same shows.

[joelene]

I have zero experience with Lilly Rabe so she is not a draw for me. I keep reading how great she is. So far I have seen nothing exceptional (I have only the first episode to go on, though)

She played a nun possessed by Satan in American Horror Story season 2 and it was just the best of times, so now we all love her.

[jdport]

So I really liked the pilot...  I hear a lot of people saying that the characters are dull cutouts... etc .. or that these t hemes have all been done before... and the reviews I've read were mediocre at best, in large part because it's not "like the Bradbury story".    Well anybody expecting it to be just like the original story might as well go to another show now and not bother.... it was a short story.. they are making a tv series.   "Inspired by" would be better choice of wording than "based on".. obviously if you're turning a short story into an entire tv series you are going to be making up a ton of stuff and not sticking to the original story.     As for the characters and the themes being done... everything has been done before in some way, so none of that bothered me either.     I thought the pilot was good.. it gave us a lot of "pieces" of story to work with.   There were a lot of characters who all seemed to be connected in some way , whether they actually know each other or not...   and some "mysteries" to ponder.   I look forward to seeing how the story develops.   My biggest fear with every TV show is that I will invest time watching it and then it'll be cancelled the first season... so here's to hoping that the story moves and keeps people interested enough to keep the show around.   I don't watch a lot of TV... I want to watch this one.   

[Tarasme]

... Until I read an online review and read the comments here about the first episode, I didn't realize that it was based on a Ray Bradbury story ('Zero hour').  If I had come here first (before I read the review) and read the names 'Minx' and 'Drill' I might have eventually remembered where I knew them from...

So I have Ray to thank for a baby girl named "Minx?" Awesome.

 

I'm trying to remember other memorable Bradbury adaptations (his material as source seems like it's been a lot less prolific than, say, PKD but maybe it's because I'm much more of a PKD fan so I remember adaptations of his work)... "The Martian Chronicles" is really the only one for which i have warm cuddly feelings (Jason Robards and SWtWCs notwithstanding).

 

I'm glad the series is fresh for me. Much agreed with jdport that "inspired by" would have been a better choice of moniker but c'est la vie.

 

I'm looking forward to watching more Whispers, doing a marathon weekend of Sense8, and premieres of Defiance, Suits, and The Last Ship's return at the end of the month (ADAM!!!). Random hopeful watching for Proof, Dark Matter, Killjoys (maybe?), and Humans.

 

There's a couple of other things later in the summer too but they're so far out they're not on the radar.

[jdport]

I had never actually read "Zero Hour" so I googled it and checked it out... it's an entertaining read, and curious that the girl in Ray Bradbury's story is named "Mink" rather than "Minx" in the tv show... a small difference but I am curious if it is significant to the show.  I guess time will tell.

[Free]

I had never actually read "Zero Hour" so I googled it and checked it out... it's an entertaining read, and curious that the girl in Ray Bradbury's story is named "Mink" rather than "Minx" in the tv show... a small difference but I am curious if it is significant to the show.  I guess time will tell.

 

I guess there are references here and there, but so far it seems more like a loose adaption.

[Brattinella]

Well, a mink is a smelly, furry thing similar to a ferret, and a minx is a trollop or a whore.  I think Mink is much preferred.

[Unclejosh]

Liking the show so far, creepy and interesting enough to keep watching for now. I was actually surprised when the show ended, went fast which is a good sign.  

 

One thing I noticed that made me curious.  As the parent of a deaf child, I wonder if there will be any comments from the deaf community regarding the "You fixed me" plot-line with the son.  I know first hand they do not consider being deaf a problem to fix as we personally received hate-filled private messages and threats from complete strangers within the deaf community when my wife and I were getting our son his cochlear implants.  He has since rejected them and considers himself fine and OK and he doesn't need or want to hear at least not at this point in his life.  Maybe because the show deafness was caused by a sudden illness, it is considered different?

[justjoan]

 

The female FBI agent is a psychologist -- but she "cannot deal" with her missing husband's plane being found? Really?

 

Yes? Training in dealing with psychological issues doesn't make her immune to them, and "your ex-lover has found your presumed-dead husband, wait, no he hasn't, maybe he's alive!" seems like kind of a big trigger. As someone married to a psychiatrist, I can say pretty confidently that denial, repression, unhealthy ways of dealing with stress, etc. don't just magically fix themselves even if you know what to look for and how to treat them (happily married! Honest! Heh.). It's only been three months, and their marriage probably wasn't in a great place when he "died." And now this? It's not unthinkable that even a trained professional might need a minute or two to deal with that.

 

"Mink" and "Minx" are both awful, awful names, even by the demented standards of actors and rock stars. That poor kid.

[Dot Com]

Liking the show so far, creepy and interesting enough to keep watching for now. I was actually surprised when the show ended, went fast which is a good sign.

One thing I noticed that made me curious. As the parent of a deaf child, I wonder if there will be any comments from the deaf community regarding the "You fixed me" plot-line with the son. I know first hand they do not consider being deaf a problem to fix as we personally received hate-filled private messages and threats from complete strangers within the deaf community when my wife and I were getting our son his cochlear implants. He has since rejected them and considers himself fine and OK and he doesn't need or want to hear at least not at this point in his life. Maybe because the show deafness was caused by a sudden illness, it is considered different?

He had become deaf from an illness and had only been deaf for two years. So I think that the kid would have considered himself "broken". Now if he had been born deaf than that would have been different. My pet peeve is why wasn't that kid speaking with his voice at all? It's not like He would have gone suddenly mute when he lost his hearing. He should have been signing and speaking together.

[walnutqueen]

Well, a mink is a smelly, furry thing similar to a ferret, and a minx is a trollop or a whore.  I think Mink is much preferred.

 

Minks are vicious killers and made into pretentious fur coats.  I'd rather be a saucy minx.  :-)

[jhlipton]

From the crappy rope ladder to the lack of a door to the flimsy flooring (which looked like it was flimsy before handyman-extraordinaire Harper did whatever she did to it), it's basically a deathtrap.  Even the mom had difficulty climbing the ladder.  And it's not like there was an elder sibling around that used it.  Maybe it was there when they bought the place, but even then they should have removed the rope ladder to keep kids out of it.

Mommy fell about 8 feet head-first onto some stones and didn't die, so I guess they felt if that could happen the tree-house was safe.

 

(I'm sorry but she was DEAD.  No way she survived the fall as it was shown.  If they wanted her to live, they should have had her fall on the grass, and get knocked out.  Unless she's a zombie... [wrong show])

[SonofaBiscuit]

I initially didn't watch this show because I thought it was about children being possessed or something like that (I don't do demons and possession...or horror in general).  When I came on here to read reviews and saw that it was NOT about that at all, I watched the rerun this weekend. 

 

As others have mentioned, that treehouse was terrifying.  Who builds a treehouse that high up in a tree for their little child?  And I can't rewatch since I deleted the episode, but it looked like someone hastily cut a hole for a door.  Those parents must have hated their child, that's all I can come up with.

 

Never heard of Lily Rabe, but I liked her in this.  I thought that she was good with the little kids (I was happy that she didn't talk to them like they were little babies), and her son is just adorable.  

 

Wish that Barry Sloane would have been allowed to keep his sexy accent...strangely, his voice is much deeper with his natural accent and I find that greatly preferable.  

[jdport]

Liking the show so far, creepy and interesting enough to keep watching for now. I was actually surprised when the show ended, went fast which is a good sign.  

 

One thing I noticed that made me curious.  As the parent of a deaf child, I wonder if there will be any comments from the deaf community regarding the "You fixed me" plot-line with the son.  I know first hand they do not consider being deaf a problem to fix as we personally received hate-filled private messages and threats from complete strangers within the deaf community when my wife and I were getting our son his cochlear implants.  He has since rejected them and considers himself fine and OK and he doesn't need or want to hear at least not at this point in his life.  Maybe because the show deafness was caused by a sudden illness, it is considered different?

 

She said that he had just lost his hearing relatively recently... so for him  getting hearing back probably was "fixing" him.    If he'd been born without hearing it wouldn't feel that way probably but if he had grown up hearing and then couldn't hear any more then it probably would feel "broken".  

[SanLynn]

So I didn't make it through this the first time around but happened upon the last five minutes and decided to give it another try because I'm home sick today. 5 minutes in and it finally dawned on me that I'd heard this before... Drill and Minx and the alien stuff.

 

Then I remembered that I'd listened to old time radio a lot and they had adapted Bradbury's zero hour as a short drama. So.... yeah now I'm in. Especially since they have Ventimiglia and Sloane. Eye Candy covers a lot of missteps with the writing for me.

 

I agree though that Barry Sloane should have been allowed to keep his accent. Nice to see him again after he got killed off Revenge.

 

Looking forward to catching episode 2 tonight and seeing what they can do with the story in the expanded time format of a series.

Edited June 8, 2015 by SanLynn

[Lady Calypso]

I actually thoroughly enjoyed the pilot more than I thought I would. I saw the previews a while back and didn't really think I would end up watching it, but being bored today and wanting to try a new summer show, I decided to give it a try and I was in the moment Autumn Reeser appeared on screen, and even more so when Lily Rabe appeared, with Barry Sloane and Milo Ventimiglia.

 

The kids are cute enough. Harper's kind of annoying, but that's realistic for a kid since she's probably never really acted much before, and I love Minx (the name is odd; I'm a young adult and I've watched a Youtuber with the username Minx so it wasn't as weird for me as it would be for others to hear) and I also like Henry. I can maybe just assume that since the kid may have only just learned some sign language for the pilot that it was easier for him just to focus on one language over talking and signing and messing up one or the other. 

 

Everything was connected together in this first episode. At least we're getting that portion out of the way. So Claire was having an affair with Wes, whose kid is Minx and is seeing Drill, along with Henry, whose father is Sean/John Doe and who can also somehow hear Drill/knows about him but has some amnesia so he...doesn't know. Ok then. It's probably going to lead into some ridiculous plot holes and a lot of handwaving, but sure, why not? I'll accept that and just enjoy the ride. The pilot was appropriately creepy, especially with Harper, and I like the majority of the actors (though Judgy Partner is going to bug me, I just know it) so why the hell not? I'm in and on to episode two! 

[candall]

Hmm.  I don't like kids enough to sign up for this show.  Get that deviated septum fixed and get back to me when you're an entitled teenager, Harper.  I'll wait.

 

 

I initially didn't watch this show because I thought it was about children being possessed or something like that (I don't do demons and possession...or horror in general).  When I came on here to read reviews and saw that it was NOT about that at all, I watched the rerun this weekend. 

Well, there you go--the opposite for me.  I'll make an exception to my no-kids preference for the evil ones, but sci-fi electro-magnetic aliens targeting President Chip?  Pfffft.

 

P.S.  I think of "minx" as more naughty than whore--perfect for that sneezing raccoon a few posts back.

Edited June 13, 2015 by candall

[AudienceofOne]

Just watched it. Was doing my obligatory, "wait to see if it's getting cancelled" thing and I guess there's no S2 so I can just watch it for what it is.

Have read the Bradbury story this is based on and found the first episode far better than I expected. I can only assume that Drill magically kept "dumb-as-box-of-hammers-she-was-using" child's mother alive. Because that fall was not survivable. Interested enough to keep going, although I'll second the person who pointed out that concluding the picture of "stick figure with red thing round his neck" MUST be the President is kind of ridiculous.