"Welcome to Wayward Pines, where paradise is home."
That's what the billboard says on the way into town, but it depends on your definition of paradise. If you thought Twin Peaks, Wash., was paradise, then you're on the right road to Wayward Pines, Idaho.
Wayward Pines, from producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) debuts at 8 p.m. today on Fox. If you tune in, you'll have plenty of company. Fox plans to release the series simultaneously in 125 countries with a potential audience of 200 million.
The ambitious, 10-episode miniseries is a psychological thriller based on Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines trilogy of best-sellers, and stars Oscar nominee Matt Dillon (Crash) as Secret Service agent Ethan Burke, a respected veteran of the Seattle office.
Burke is sent to the seemingly idyllic town of (fictional) Wayward Pines (Agassiz, British Columbia, stands in) in search of two missing fellow agents, one of whom is his partner, Kate Hewson (Carla Gugino, Watchmen, Entourage).
Ah, but Ethan and Kate are more than partners. They are former lovers and their past relationship nearly wrecked Burke's marriage to Theresa (Shannyn Sossamon, How to Make It in America).
The mystery begins when a truck slams into Burke's car and he staggers into town and collapses. Burke wakes up in the Wayward Pines Hospital under the care of intense, sinister and unpredictable Nurse Pam (Oscar- and Emmy-winner Melissa Leo, The Fighter, Treme).
Nurse Pam and Burke will grow to be vicious adversaries, and her role in the town will prove much deeper than is readily apparent.
Psychological thriller? Yep, and a good one. Imagine the perfect little sleepy American town -- beautiful homes, manicured lawns, children playing safely in the streets. There's only one thing. You think you're going insane.
"Slowly," Shyamalan says, "agent Burke comes to realize that he can't leave the town. There's something scary underneath it all."
If the main definition of wayward is "difficult to predict because of unusual or perverse behavior," then the town is well-named. I've seen the first five episodes and the series kept me on my toes through all of them.
This official notice is posted in businesses around town: "Do not try to leave. Do not discuss the past. Do not discuss your life before. Always answer the phone if it rings. Work hard, be happy, and enjoy your life in Wayward Pines."
Eventually Theresa and her teenage son, Ben (Charlie Tahan, Charlie St. Cloud), make their way to Wayward Pines in search of Burke.
Once settled in, the Burkes enroll Ben in Wayward Pine's only school, where his teacher, Megan Fisher (Hope Davis, Allegiance), quickly turns out to be more than meets the eye.
But Burke's stubborn continuing investigation only turns up more questions -- questions that put his family in danger.
The other denizens of Wayward Pines include Burke's mysterious psychiatrist, Dr. Jenkins (Toby Jones, Infamous, The Girl); toymaker Harold Balinger (Reed Diamond, Homicide: Life on the Street); and bartender Beverly (Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers), who is as suspicious of Wayward Pines as Burke is.
Finally, Terrence Howard (Lucious Lyon on Fox's Empire) plays menacing Sheriff Arnold Pope, who is peeved that a Secret Service agent has shown up on his turf.
"Looks like you didn't get very far," Pope says to Burke after he fails to escape.
"How do I get outa here?" Burke growls.
"You don't," Pope sneers.
You see, there's an electrified wall around the town. A very tall, very deadly wall.
The series' homage to Twin Peaks is quite intentional. On a Fox panel during the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Shyamalan (pronounced SHAH-muh-lahn) said that he was inspired by the 1990-91 ABC series, as was novelist Crouch. It shows in the series.
Shyamalan also urged viewers weary of the mystery genre to give the series a shot for one special reason. Unlike other miniseries, fans will be rewarded with the "big reveal" in Episode 5 instead of at the end. I was paying close attention and admit I never saw the big twist coming. I can't wait to see what the final five episodes bring.
"If you asked me what's the thing that's groundbreaking about the show, [it's] that halfway through the season it becomes an entirely different genre," Shyamalan said.
SEASON FINALES
Today:
ABC -- Grey's Anatomy, 7 p.m.; Scandal, 8 p.m.; American Crime, 9 p.m.
CBS -- The Odd Couple, 7:30 p.m.; Elementary, 9 p.m.
NBC -- The Blacklist, 8 p.m.
The CW -- The Vampire Diaries, 7 p.m.; Reign, 8 p.m.
Friday:
ABC -- Shark Tank, 7 p.m.
CBS -- The Amazing Race, 7 p.m.
NBC -- Grimm, 7 p.m.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 05/14/2015