[Review] NOS4A2 Season 1 Episode 1 – “The Shorter Way”

Poster image of the AMC network, horror series NOS4A2 depicting Zachary Quinto as Charlie Manx shadowed and bent over in front of a shadowed jalopy’s headlights shining on him. The entire image is creepy, dark, and eerie.

Both bone-chilling and psychologically terrifying in its midst, heralding from AMC network, NOS4A2 brings to reality the terrifying world of the forgotten and neglected children of white suburbia. It begins moments before a midtown family in Here, Iowa meet their demise as our central villain, Charlie Manx (played by Zachary Quinto), and his temporary sidekick make their debut on our screen. Along with their new recruit, we see the frightening Charlie slowly weaken and de-age as they head for the snow-filled world of Christmasland. Opposite of that, we are introduced to the life of Victoria “Vic” McQueen (played by Ashleigh Cummings), an eighteen-year-old high school student in smalltown, Haverhill, Massachusettes. We see the good and the ugly, and it is the ugly that leads her to divest and carry on in a space of peace where the suspension of belief sets in. Our connection to our big bad slowly brews here. Back in Iowa, we also meet Maggie Leigh (played by Jahkara J. Smith), a medium who uses scrabbles to guide her in her midst. Maggie has a connection to the family that witnessed misfortune, and this persistence on her part slowly draws her to our protagonist. Closing out the episode, we see the janitor of Vic’s school, Bing Partridge (played by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), come to staunch realizations about a comic he’s been fairly obsessed with.

[Review] Swamp Thing Season 1 Episode 1 – “Pilot”

Poster for DC Universe’s Swamp Thing. It’s a realistic illustration with the swamp at the horizon line and filling the background; it’s very foggy. In the foreground, wooded vines and bark cover the marsh area.

Following after the excellency of Doom Patrol, DC Universe immediately gifts us with the horror-filled, Swamp Thing to satisfy our summer freight. The grotesque, southern gothic drama follows Abby Arcane (played by Crystal Reed), a CDC specialist, as she returns to her hometown of Marais, Louisiana following a report of an epidemic. Once there, she gradually touches bases with everything and everyone she formerly had a connection with as she’s investigating more into sickness gradually plaguing the town. Her research eventually leads her to Alec Holland (played by Andy Bean), a contracted wildlife biologist investigating the plant and swamp life of the town. Their dynamic becomes the heart of the show as it ends on a much-unexpected note.

[Review] The InBetween Season 1 Episode 1 – “Pilot”

Poster for the NBC drama series “The InBetween” featuring the face of Harriet Dyer, and the full bodies of Anne-Marie Johnson, Paul Blackthorne, and Justin Cornwell.

The InBetween follows Cassie Bishop (played by Harriet Dyer), a woman with a connection to the spirits lingering in the space between the living and the death (known as purgatory). We’re immediately shown that this is not a new experience for her and that she drowns this out with alcohol use. Where the plot begins is her newer visions that become a major clue to the overarching investigation by the Seattle Police Department where her foster father, Tom Hackett (played by Paul Blackthorne), and newly transferred FBI-turned-cop, Damien Asante (played by Justin Cornwell), work. Over the course of the episode, as Cassie helps a young child close a chapter in her life, the police detectives unravel the mystery of a serial killer. In the midst of both plots, we see that Damien might be more connected to the lives of Tom and Cassie than he’s willing to admit.