Fox's Reunion
Reunion: More Standard than Expected
"Reunion" is the story of six high school friends. The shows flips back and forth between the friends' high school graduation and twenty-year reunion. Last night the pilot focused more on the 1980's side of the show, setting up the murder (which turns out not to be a mystery) and the relationships.
The murder is a drunk driving accident. Two best friends Craig (Sean Faris) and Will (Will Estes)drive home from a party. For some reason, Will, who is sober, agrees to let the drunk Craig drive. Inevitably, a man dies. Craig's smooth talking lawyer dad convinces Will to take the rap. He argues that a charge of manslaughter won't give him time in jail because he was not drunk. The plan backfires when a harsh judge rules a year in jail appropriate for the crime. Now, twenty years later, a detective full of clichés comes around to ask questions about the crime. Some mystery must unfold as the season progresses, because the investigation comes up twenty years after the crime. However, I find it hard to care.
But all of the murder junk seemed extra to the real purpose of the show: to watch attractive people have relationships. There are six people, three men, three women, and two love triangles. I call that maximum efficiency writing. I would tell you more about the love triangles, but they are boring, trite, and lame.
At first glance, a show that takes place in the 1980s promises to have some
redeeming quality due to the nostalgia factor. The trouble is, Reunion
counted on it. The cars, clothes, and songs from the 80s occurred with such
frequency, variety, and force, that the whole thing felt pretty forced.
For television, that's saying a lot. Name your favorite 1980s kitsch song,
and you can be pretty certain it composed the soundtrack of the first episode.
As the pilot to a new series, Reunion would have worked better
to develop interest in the mystery rather than finding inappropriate times
to work in Cyndi Lauper songs.
Ultimately, if you are a fan of The O.C. and the type of rich people
relationship prime time soap opera it represents, you might like Reunion.
If, however, you hoped for something more, don't bother.
Stay tuned for updates.
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