Having just concluded it's short freshman season (only 8 episodes), I can without hesitation say that this amazing new ABC series RESURRECTION (2014) should have serious staying power! Provocative, emotional, powerful, moving, and last but not least, uplifting, this series has a unique quality and perspective in that, rather than focus too much on the sci-fi and mystery elements that permeate throughout, it instead focuses on the human interactions and relationships. This is what makes this show different from shows like "Lost" and "Invasion", where the underlying mystery always seemed to be at the forefront, perhaps at the expense of character. Whereas "Resurrection" puts the characters at the forefront, and leaves the mystery/sci-fi explanations to play second fiddle. When watching an episode of this show, I almost don't care WHY these dead people are returning! I'm just enjoying how the characters are dealing with it!
The series jumpstarts (literally!) with an 8-year old boy named Jacob (played by child-phenom Landon Gimenez in a stunningly convincing performance), who rises from a watery slumber in a Chinese village. Found by the villagers, Jacob is soon turned over to INS Agent J. Martin Bellamy (excellently performed by veteran Omar Epps of "House" fame). Bellamy, a former cop with a tortured past, takes a special interest in Jacob and figures out that he is from Arcadia, MO (the show's setting) and drives him there to reunite him with his parents. Bellamy and Jacob arrive at the home of Henry Langston (brilliantly played by the great Kurtwood Smith of "Robocop" and "That 70s Show" fame). Bellamy tells Henry that he has his son Jacob, upon which Henry responds that Jacob died 32 years ago. A few minutes later, Henry's wife Lucille (superbly played by Frances Fisher in an emotionally-engaging role) and the Langstons are stunned at the resemblance between the young boy and their Jacob. And so the mystery begins!
As the pilot wears on, we are slowly introduced to rest of the show's central ensemble. Soon after the encounter between Bellamy and the Langstons, the town sheriff and Henry's brother Fred Langston (played with stern, sterling bravado and complexity by Matt Craven) shows up and immediately believes this to be a hoax. Jacob is taken to the town doctor, who is also Fred's daughter Maggie Langston (impressively played by newcomer Devin Kelley). Maggie does a check-up of Jacob and everything seems normal. While at the check-up, Jacob runs into an old friend, the town pastor Tom Hale (played with strong conviction and believability by Mark Hildreth). Tom is stunned that Jacob is back and has not aged at all. Jacob indicates that his last memory on the day of his death in 1982 was that he was trying to save his Aunt Barbara Langston, Fred's wife and Maggie's mother, but then he fell in the river and she did shortly thereafter, both drowning.
Later in the episode, we meet Maggie's best friend Elaine Richards (well-played by Samaire Armstrong) and her mentally-challenged brother Ray (excellent work by Travis Young). This ties into another mysterious figure returning, Elaine and Ray's father Caleb Richards (played with unapologetic menace by Sam Hazeldine), a very shady man who died of a heart attack in 2001 when they were both teenagers. The returns of Jacob and Caleb set the stage for the upcoming action in Season 1.
The main reason why this show works is because it almost doesn't seem to care about the mystery behind the returned, but how it affects their families and how their loved ones deal with them upon their returns. We get varying degrees of emotions. In the Langston home, while Lucille immediately embraces Jacob, Henry is reluctant. Similarly, while Elaine accepts Caleb back into her life, Ray is suspicious. And since Jacob died on the same day as Barbara, this opens up old wounds between Fred and Maggie as they have a tenuous relationship. Tom is in turmoil as he must grapple with the reality of both his dead friend's return and the return of someone else very close to him soon thereafter.
Caught in the middle of all of this is Agent Bellamy, who must keep a lid on the mysterious returns in Arcadia, while still investigating the mystery to determine the reason, all the while treading the thin line of the intertwining familial relationships. Bellamy starts to develop strong connections with the Langston family wanting to protect Jacob at all costs, but also developing strong feelings towards Maggie.
Through very believable dialogue, well-conceived characters, and uniformly superb acting, "Resurrection" feels like a show that will be around for a while!
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