(MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD)
Not a bad start. You get the feeling we are in capable hands in this first episode. It starts off kind of corny, and the characters feel a bit stock, but you immediately realize that this director is one step ahead of you. And just when he's starting to veer off into cliché-ville, he pulls back. A perfect example: Bree Turner's character, a trained survivalist and our damsel in distress, starts to set traps for her lunatic pursuer (Moonface) in the forest. The first one is successful and we cheer, but when she sets the second it gets old quick. What does director Don Coscarelli do? He has the booby-trap backfire and impale our heroine. Sheer delight! The back-story, about Turner's failed relationship with an emotionally cut off redneck who teaches her the moves she will eventually utilize on Moonface is actually interesting. This guy is a step away from skinhead territory, but the writer handles him with respect and ambivalence. On the one hand, you can never have a functional relationship with a nut job extremist like him, but on the other Maybe he's not so crazy. After all, his wacko tactics save Bree Turner from what would otherwise be certain death in the woods. And there's an unspoken logic to Turner being with this guy in the first place that gives the plot credibility. Yeah, he's crazy, but he's also confident, strong and charismatic. Women frequently go for these types only to later realize it was mistake.
Where this episode really excels is in the conclusion. It could have just ended with Turner killing Moonface, but NOOOO. These guys went deep and revealed some major psychological damage in Turner. This lady is damaged goods in the worst way. Those final moments with her down in that basement with thegulpcorpse of her boyfriend are unnerving. Why is she so comfortable in those dark woods and down in that basement? She might just be crazier than old Moonface.
Finally, I have to comment on Bree Turner. I've liked her for a while now. I even bought an issue of Bikini Magazine (long since gone under) when all she had done was MTV's "Undressed." She's come a long way. She does a kick-ass job in this short and I'm sure casting directors will take note.
Yes, if this first episode is any indication we're in for a real treat with this Showtime series. Thumbs up.
Episode 2 - Dreams in the Witch-House (SPOILERS AHEAD)
Knowing nothing about the H.P. Lovecraft story upon which this episode is based, I found it to be just okay. The biggest problem with it is that the show's low budget is starting to rear it's ugly head. The cheesy special effects for the intersection of time and space through which the witch traveled were distractingly bad. And the scene with the rat gnawing through the baby's neck was pretty awful too--the rat was clearly digitally imposed. (NOTE: this scene could have been a real shocker if done right.)
The story itself wasn't too bad, but it never felt authentic. Something about the actors, the sets, etc. didn't gel. Verisimilitude wasn't achieved and I never for one second lost myself and forgot that I was watching a (perhaps overrated if this episode is any indication what's to follow) Showtime series.
On the plus side, "Masters" looks to be a total babe-a-thon, with an attractive actress in the lead each week. Last week it was the can't-look-away ingénue Bree Turner. This week it was Chelah Horsdal, who's body is unstoppable. And next week's previews indicate another stunner is in the queue.
But the fact that my attention has been drawn to such superficialities tells you that this episode left something to be desired in the story department.
Thumbs down.
Episode 3 - "The Doom Room"
This was a noisy, angry episode. Lots of music video type editing, chaos and confusion. But it had its own internal logic that worked. The story centered around a young girl (Jessica Lowndes) who was living with her bitter mother and working at their diner in a post apocalyptic world (we get the idea some sort of weapons of mass destruction have been deployed on a massive scale in the US).
She whisked away from all this by the leader of a band of rebels played nicely by Jonathan Tucker. But on their night on the town she discovers the ugly truth about what happened to her older sister, whom she always believed to be her mother's favorite. Let's just say that if that's how mom treats her favorite, I would hate to be on her bad side. Things unfold rather predictably after the secret is revealed, and it gets a little schlocky, but overall this episode is entertaining and MOH maintains its standard as one of the more interesting and original shows on TV.
Thumbs up.
Not a bad start. You get the feeling we are in capable hands in this first episode. It starts off kind of corny, and the characters feel a bit stock, but you immediately realize that this director is one step ahead of you. And just when he's starting to veer off into cliché-ville, he pulls back. A perfect example: Bree Turner's character, a trained survivalist and our damsel in distress, starts to set traps for her lunatic pursuer (Moonface) in the forest. The first one is successful and we cheer, but when she sets the second it gets old quick. What does director Don Coscarelli do? He has the booby-trap backfire and impale our heroine. Sheer delight! The back-story, about Turner's failed relationship with an emotionally cut off redneck who teaches her the moves she will eventually utilize on Moonface is actually interesting. This guy is a step away from skinhead territory, but the writer handles him with respect and ambivalence. On the one hand, you can never have a functional relationship with a nut job extremist like him, but on the other Maybe he's not so crazy. After all, his wacko tactics save Bree Turner from what would otherwise be certain death in the woods. And there's an unspoken logic to Turner being with this guy in the first place that gives the plot credibility. Yeah, he's crazy, but he's also confident, strong and charismatic. Women frequently go for these types only to later realize it was mistake.
Where this episode really excels is in the conclusion. It could have just ended with Turner killing Moonface, but NOOOO. These guys went deep and revealed some major psychological damage in Turner. This lady is damaged goods in the worst way. Those final moments with her down in that basement with thegulpcorpse of her boyfriend are unnerving. Why is she so comfortable in those dark woods and down in that basement? She might just be crazier than old Moonface.
Finally, I have to comment on Bree Turner. I've liked her for a while now. I even bought an issue of Bikini Magazine (long since gone under) when all she had done was MTV's "Undressed." She's come a long way. She does a kick-ass job in this short and I'm sure casting directors will take note.
Yes, if this first episode is any indication we're in for a real treat with this Showtime series. Thumbs up.
Episode 2 - Dreams in the Witch-House (SPOILERS AHEAD)
Knowing nothing about the H.P. Lovecraft story upon which this episode is based, I found it to be just okay. The biggest problem with it is that the show's low budget is starting to rear it's ugly head. The cheesy special effects for the intersection of time and space through which the witch traveled were distractingly bad. And the scene with the rat gnawing through the baby's neck was pretty awful too--the rat was clearly digitally imposed. (NOTE: this scene could have been a real shocker if done right.)
The story itself wasn't too bad, but it never felt authentic. Something about the actors, the sets, etc. didn't gel. Verisimilitude wasn't achieved and I never for one second lost myself and forgot that I was watching a (perhaps overrated if this episode is any indication what's to follow) Showtime series.
On the plus side, "Masters" looks to be a total babe-a-thon, with an attractive actress in the lead each week. Last week it was the can't-look-away ingénue Bree Turner. This week it was Chelah Horsdal, who's body is unstoppable. And next week's previews indicate another stunner is in the queue.
But the fact that my attention has been drawn to such superficialities tells you that this episode left something to be desired in the story department.
Thumbs down.
Episode 3 - "The Doom Room"
This was a noisy, angry episode. Lots of music video type editing, chaos and confusion. But it had its own internal logic that worked. The story centered around a young girl (Jessica Lowndes) who was living with her bitter mother and working at their diner in a post apocalyptic world (we get the idea some sort of weapons of mass destruction have been deployed on a massive scale in the US).
She whisked away from all this by the leader of a band of rebels played nicely by Jonathan Tucker. But on their night on the town she discovers the ugly truth about what happened to her older sister, whom she always believed to be her mother's favorite. Let's just say that if that's how mom treats her favorite, I would hate to be on her bad side. Things unfold rather predictably after the secret is revealed, and it gets a little schlocky, but overall this episode is entertaining and MOH maintains its standard as one of the more interesting and original shows on TV.
Thumbs up.