Fear Itself (1.3)

Thursday, June 19th, 2008 @ 10 PM

NBC

Fear Itself, Season 1 - Episode #3 - "Family Man"

NBC

A likeable family man switches bodies with a serial killer during a near-death experience. Now he must keep his loved ones from being added to the long list of the killer's victims. (NBC.com)

Cast: Colin Ferguson, Clifton Collins Jr., Josie Davis, Gig Morton, Nicole Leduc

Marmot: This week’s Fear Itself was the best of them so far, but still kinda dumb. I was disappointed.

Manatee: I hated it. I thought it was called "Face Off" the first time I saw it. And the twist at the end was so obvious. I'm thinking of canceling the DVR recording.

Marmot: The ending was totally obvious. I might keep watching, but I won't be in a big hurry.

Manatee: I think it stinks. I just can't get over how unoriginal the stories are.

Marmot: Nor frightening. This is the same stuff that was on “Tales From the Crypt” 20 years ago, and “The Twilight Zone” 20 years before that.

Manatee: I was thinking that same thing!

Marmot: This episode could have made for a really interesting character study - about what makes a person do the things they do, and what can bring about change in them. Instead, everything reverted to how it was at the beginning of the episode and no one was redeemed, with the good guy actually being punished - for what? It completely falls flat as a morality tale, if that was the intent.

Manatee: If it was a morality tale, they need a new morality barometer in their writers' office. There were no stakes. The main character (Colin Ferguson) was just a good guy and he got thrown for a loop being switched into a killer's body, which I did find interesting. If you try to picture yourself in that position, it’s a pretty scary place to be. But you're right, what did this guy do that he was punished for? He seemed to be so great and likeable.

Marmot: He did nothing. It just completely missed the point of horror. The true intent of horror is to act as a cautionary tale against immoral behavior. That's why Jason Voorhies always kills the sexy teens who are about to do it first, and the nerds who try to protect their friends last. But there's nothing really horrifying about some magical "spiritual transgression" because he did nothing to deserve it. It was just completely random.

Manatee: Maybe someone should mention that to the writers on the show.

Fear Itself (1.2)

Thursday, June 12th, 2008 @ 10 PM

NBC

Fear Itself, Season 1 - Episode #2 - "Spooked"

"Why are you so bad, Fear Itself? Why are you so bad?"

While on a stakeout in a haunted house, a private eye is revisited by restless spirits of those he wronged in the past and now those spirits are set on deadly revenge. (NBC.com)

Stars: Eric Roberts, Jack Noseworthy, Cynthia Watros, Larry Gilliard Jr.

Marmot: Let me see if I understand the plot of this episode: Eric Roberts is a PI. Libby from LOST hires him to spy on her non-existent husband so that an evil house can make him feel guilty for killing her brother? And somewhere along the line, he remembers accidently shooting his brother and him and his father burying the corpse?

Manatee: Basically, yes. That sounds "right." Though I'm not sure I get why/how Libby knew about that house and why/how she thought it would make Eric Roberts go crazy.

Marmot: Maybe she saw it on Craigslist? What I don't get is, what was the deal with the Satan worshippers? Was she a Satan worshipper too?

Manatee: Hmmm... maybe. Did she go to the house with her brother and worship and graffiti self portraits on the walls? Did she put a spell or curse on the house? It wasn't really haunted. It was just Eric Roberts going crazy or being delusional/drunk and remembering his own ghosts. How would she know that would happen?

Marmot: I also don't understand why the dad didn't just tell the truth about the son being shot. Seems like it would be a lot easier to explain "my boys found my gun and were playing with it and it was an accident" than "my child mysteriously disappeared and no, I'm not really all that worried about it"

Manatee: It does seem like that would be the logical choice. Not much about this show makes sense, even though it is so unoriginal and full of clichés: They meet at a diner, he's a PI with a drinking problem, the radio in the haunted house turns on by itself (so Tales from the Crypt-esque) - what's the point of this anthology? Horror is such a great genre to be original in because it's based in fantasy. What's wrong with these writers?

Marmot: Lazy? Next week's episode promised to be mind-blowing. The TV said so, and I'm inclined to believe it, because it's TV and it never lies.

Manatee: I'll give it one more chance, if it still stinks, I'm canceling my DVR recording.

Marmot: Yep. It's taking up valuable space where Under One Roof could go.