(Season 1, Episode 1)
22 years after the movie bedazzled America, and after two failed attempts before it, the witches of Eastwick have finally made it to television. I find myself thinking the same thing I’ve thought each time they tried to adapt the book/film to the television medium: how can they sustain an ongoing narrative?
That’s not to say that I don’t think the three women are capable of carrying a series, it’s just that the story of Darryl Van Horne has kind of a built in end-date doesn’t it? I guess, after that storyline you can come up with other nemeses for the girls.It does make me sad for Eureka and Sheriff Carter, though. It looks like Tess left Eureka to move to Eastwick where she’s already married to a jackass with five kids. But that’s not even the worst of it. John Stamos lost his wife to Kyle XY? Shocking, I know. At least Sara Rue (Less Than Perfect) is there. Something tells me she will be the voice of reason for Joanna, and possibly all the girls
The character of Joanna took me the longest to warm up to. In fact, when the episode started, I was ready to write off the show completely in large part because I did not care for Lindsay Price’s acting. However, she seemed to get more comfortable in her role as the episode progressed and she came out of her shell.
There were some plot and dialogue elements that rang a little false to me. As an example, when Kat (Jaime Ray Newman) was yelling at her husband and asked if it would take the earth moving for him to get out of his hammock, and then it did. He accused her of doing it. And he was serious. Now I know he’s portrayed as dumb, but even most dumb people wouldn’t immediately assume that someone intentionally moved the earth.
Now by the time he was getting struck by lightning at her words, he had reason to suspect her. I’m just not sure how he’s going to get custody based on her being weird for a few days. He’s a drunk with no job. And she’s worried he can do it?
It took me a bit to warm up to Paul Gross as Darryl Van Horne as well, but I think that’s because Jack Nicholson was so iconic in the role. Maybe they should have gotten Christian Slater to do it … no wait, he’s busy being Forgotten.
Eastwick isn’t a great show, but it’s not a terrible show either. It has the potential to be fun, as the girls learn more about their magic and go down a darker path. So far, it’s about “girl power” at it’s greatest, though Joanna is already learning that her powers of persuasion create only false loyalty. Lessons and magic? And boobs!
Filed under: Eastwick, Review, TV | Tagged: abc, ashley benson, cher, eureka, jack nicholson, jaime ray newman, johann urb, jon bernthal, kyle xy, lindsay price, matt dallas, michelle pfeiffer, paul gross, rebecca romijn, sara rue, series premiere, susan sarandon, veronica cartwright
