Fear Itself: Spooked
This is what is fun about anthology shows, and why I can never understand why they never do better in the ratings. As much as people bitch about and resist taking a chance on long-form new serialized programs like the ’05-’06 trinity of Invasion, Surface and Threshold, you would think they would embrace a series where each episode truly stands alone. With a show like this, your investment into it won’t be impacted in any way if the network pulls the plug after only thirteen episodes, or even just four.
And yet, anthology shows tend to struggle even more than heavily serialized fare. In fact, Fear Itself got its ass handed to it by Swingtown in the head-to-head premieres last week. The big question is, with the “not-so-good” nature of the premiere, how many people came back to see this much improved second episode, and how many will stick around for Daniel Knaupf’s outstanding episode next week? While last week was a poorly written and acted “monster of the week” boobfest, this time we got a well constructed good old-fashioned haunting.
I liked the set-up to get us into this haunting. Eric Roberts played a police officer stripped of his badge for essentially killing a suspect to get more information out of him. Then we cut to years later and now he’s a private investigator, spending his time taking pictures of cheating spouses and extorting his clients when he gets the chance to. With the background established, he was hired to watch a house overnight so that he might catch a cheating husband, and the client (Cynthia Watros) even suggested he go to the abandoned house across the street to set up as he wouldn’t be bothered there.
And just like that, we got the character into the haunted house. From there, I really enjoyed the twist of the house he was set up in, giving him visions of events occurring in the house he was watching; visions for him alone, as his partner (Larry Gilliard Jr.) who was set up down the street in a van never experienced any of it. The effects on the spectral manifestations were spot on, and the tension was very well handled. About the only thing I would have appreciated more was a true sense of danger for Roberts’ character.
All in all, though, the hauntings seemed to be more about addressing the sins of his youth as channeled through his adult behavior. Of course we were going to tap back into the incident that got him removed from the force, but even more compelling for me was the ultimate sin committed as a result of a childhood accident. In a way, his emotional and psychological issues emanate almost completely as a result of what his father forced him to do.
Good horror pulls us into the psyche of our victim and a good haunting is as much psychological as it is just violence and gore (see last week’s “The Sacrifice” for just such a lack of depth). “Spooked” gave us disturbing images, from Roberts’ father jamming bullets into his gums to the ever-changing images on the wall, and a complex back story connecting all of the disparate elements by the end. But it was the personal connection to those images by both Roberts and Watros that made them all the more compelling.
Again, the only thing that could have made it more “scary” would be if the specters came across as true threats to Roberts. As it was, they appeared to simply be there to show him things he didn’t want to remember, freak him out a bit and think about what kind of a person he was. The real and physical dangers came only from the encounters between real people within the episode.
The potential in the story is such that it could have been made a lot more intense and exciting by increasing the threat factor from the hauntings themselves and doing more with Gilliard’s character. As it was, his role was essentially to sit in the van and say to Roberts, “Nope, I don’t see anything.” I get that it was Roberts who was the target of the hauntings, but to pull his partner and friend into the danger, even if he remained skeptical to the whole thing, would have increased the tension and the stakes tremendously for the already embattled Roberts.
In the end, though, we got a typically satisfying horror short story conclusion. Lessons were learned, in some cases, but as is often the case, these lessons are learned too little too late and we must pay for the mistakes we’ve made in life. And as we pay for those mistakes, we in turn corrupt the next generation of innocents, so the cycle can continue. Maybe I’m over-analyzing things, but I’ve read a lot of horror stories and novels, and seen a lot of horror shows and movies and I just found this to be a wholly satisfying experience of the genre.
Cynthia Watros Talks Fear, Itself
Libby is back! And she’s not in Santa Rosa Mental Hospital this time, but rather on NBC’s new anthology series Fear, Itself.
I sat down with the lovely Cynthia Watros (Lost’s dearly departed Libby) to discuss her special episode, which airs tonight. (Set your TiVo!) I’ve seen it, and can tell you that Cynthia gives a stunningly freaktastic performance as a woman who hires a private detective (Eric Roberts) to investigate her husband’s wandering eye…But it all turns out to be so much more.
In Monday’s Watch With Kristin Show, I’ll share with you Cynthia’s take on the latest happenings on Lost and whether she’ll return, but for now, click in for some Fear-ful chatter…
For those who haven’t yet checked it out, what is Fear, Itself?
It’s a 13-show anthology series on NBC. My episode is directed by Brad Anderson, and Eric Roberts is in this episode. This episode is about what these people are about at the beginning and then, as the show progresses, you realize they’re not exactly what they seem to be. And there is an interesting relationship with the house.
The title is interesting.
Yes, the fear surrounds all of these episodes. It is about what people have inside them that can ultimately come out, if they’re insecure or if they’re put in a position where they’re tested. And this episode is definitely one of those cases.
What made you want to do it? Were you a fan of anthology series? Did you watch The Twilight Zone? Or do you just like freaking people out?
It’s really interesting as an actor to play someone who’s really mysterious and you don’t quite know what’s up with this person until the end. It’s definitely fun to play more psychotic, people who are not at all like you, and you feel like you’re really acting, you’re really putting yourself out there.
And I did grow up a big sci-fi person, and I watched Star Trek and all those things. I tend to gravitate toward that genre.
What was it like doing those scenes with Eric Roberts? They’re fairly intense.
They are! It was the first time that I had met Eric, and he was lovely—wonderful actor. So it’s hard to say, “Hey, Eric, I’m Cynthia, and I’ll be spitting on you in this scene. I hope that’s OK.” But he is a trouper, a true actor, and I promised that I wouldn’t do anything too embarrassing to him. So he was great. It’s lovely to work with someone who’s free and open and willing to do whatever the partner wants to do.
What was the casting like?
It first starts with reading the script and if you feel sort of connected to the script then you agree to go into the audition, and after you audition if they feel like you’re right for the part, they tell you what’s going on with the show itself. I was really attracted to the caliber of the directors and actors they had for this series and working with Eric, and I’ve wanted to work with him for some time, so I felt really lucky.
John Mayer is Quite the Joker
John Mayer is Quite the Joker
Sometimes he’s an ultra-serious, intense, guitar-slinging icon, and other times he’s more of a deadpan awkward comic. But either way, John Mayer is always entertaining.
Last night, the paparazzi caught up to the “Gravity” singer as he was exiting the Dan Tannas Restaurant in Los Angeles, California.
An over-zealous fan approached Mayer, seeking an autograph. Clearly flattered, John signed the pickguard brought to him by the man. But wait… he didn’t sign his own name, but rather “Eric Roberts,” an example of his eccentric, subtle humor.
Recently the “No Such Thing” singer was hanging out at a party thrown by French businessman Nicolas Berggruen. But after 10 minutes, he decided to hit the road. Mayer told press, “People keep coming up to me and touching me and telling me I’m so cute,” he said, making a run for the exit. “I’m over this!”
Roberts joins The Dark Knight
Eric Roberts has been cast in the Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight, according to the LA Daily News. Roberts will play Sal Maroni, a major mob competitor with Carmine Falcone, who was played by Tom Wilkinson in the first film. Both characters appeared in The Long Halloween, a 13-issue comic book limited series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale, that is said to have inspired The Dark Knight’s story-line. If you haven’t read The Long Halloween, GO BUY IT NOW!
The actor is best known for his roles in the hit television series Heroes and The L Word. Roberts is the brother of Julia (Oceans Eleven), and father of Emma (Nancy Drew). The Dark Knight is currently shooting in Chicago and will hit theaters on July 18, 2008.