Pitched as a cross between Scream and And Then There Were None , Harper’s Island is a drama series where at least one character is killed each week until only the killer and a handful of survivors remain. Having already broadcast in America searching online for information on the show could result in giant spoilers that will further ruin an already sketchy ending to the series. Venturing on Wikipeadia (on a bad day) for example, will present you with a table informing you who dies in which episode, who the killer is and lives to tell the tale – so be warned.  But enough talk about the future, this is about the pilot.

The pilot opens on Harper’s Island where we learn of the exploits of a serial kill named John Wakefield, he killed many people and stung them up in a tree.  These were the first murders on the island, but not the last.  Zip forward to the present day and a wedding party is preparing to head out to the small island off the coast of Seattle. As you meet each character you find yourself weighing up their odds of survival vs the the odds of their guilt. We meet Henry, the groom who is marrying the rich man’s daughter Trish, we meet the bridesmaids, the grooms men, crazy uncle Marty and the creepy flower girl.  Finally we meet Abby, Henry’s best friend from childhood. Of course Abby’s story runs deeper, an island native she has not been home since her mother was strung up by Wakefield, so as much as this is a celebration, she also has to face some demons.

Anyway the group head off, someone manages to get killed as the boat leaves shore, but who would let that dampen the party spirit.  On the island we continue to explore the characters and meet new ones, we meet Henry’s Gothic and troubled brother, Abby’s old love and her father neither of whom has she spoken to since leaving the island. Anyway the first night is all for drinking, and making people look guilty, we’re talking bags of money, guns, odd text messages and e-mails.  Then before the night is out we have our second murder.

Coming from the people behind Lonelygirl 15, this show has an odd reality show feel to it.  So use are we to shows like Big brother, The Apprentice and I’m a Celebrity that the idea of eliminating a cast member in every episode seems perfectly normal.  Obviously this format has been successful in films such April Fools Day and on stage with 12 Little Indians, but an idea that works over the course of 90 minutes seems in danger of being stretched out way too long in a TV series.   Not as funny, scary, clever or original as Scream, this is just not an idea that plays well over so many TV hours, it gives you too much time to pick holes in the plot. Still it is fun to guess who is next for the chop and who the murderer might be, although there is no escaping that this is waster TV.

With most of the cast doomed to being sliced, diced, hung, shot, stabbed etc, doing a second series was fortunately never on the cards, although a web series Harper’s Globe was produced to be viewed alongside in the original run.

Created  and written by: Ari Schlossberg
Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Elaine Cassidy, Christopher Gorham, Katie Cassidy, Cameron Richardson, Adam Campbell, C.J. Thomason
Date premièred: 9th April 2009
UK Details: 6^th September on BBC Three

I also included the trailer below from CBS’ fall preview, it is interesting because the footage is from the unseen 15 minute pilot used to sell the series to the network.  It seems that not even all the actors could survive a brutal culling by the network.

Tags: Ari Schlossberg, CBS, Detective, Drama, Harper's Island, Horror, Murder, Scream

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 7:25 am and is filed under Drama. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.