[.ca] Point Pleasant: The Complete Series

Better than I remembered:
The most important piece of advice I can give about this DVD set is to keep going. Yes, the first five or so episodes are slow and some of the actors (particularly those portraying the characters of Terri and Paula) make you want the writers to kill them quickly. And yes, those first few episodes are somewhat awkward and illustrate the initial uncertainty of the show's direction. But the show gets better. As the supernatural component of the series moves to center stage, Point Pleasant really begins to hit its mark. The five unaired episodes are by far the best of the bunch, so it is extremely important that you keep watching. The final two episodes are very good and make you long for the second season that never was. Luckily, the writers/creators apparently knew by the 8th episode (the last one actually aired) that the show would most likely be cancelled, so the final five unaired episodes do lead to a conclusion of sorts. That said, there is no neat resolution with all loose ends tied up neatly in a bow. If (and this is a big if) Point Pleasant is ever resurrected, the show would take a very interesting turn. The two best actors are luckily also the two main leads: Elisabeth Harnois as Christina Nickson, the daughter of Satan (note: Nickson=Nick's son), and Grant Show, Satan's right-hand man. Harnois's ability to make split-second transitions from a sweet, nervous, confused young girl to a powerful, dangerous, threatening force of evil are quite good. Her performance in the last episode is particularly solid. As for Show, his gleeful rendering of an evil, evil man is complicated by his occasional revelations of his not-so-evil past before his pact with the devil. What a shame the show was cancelled just when it was finally becoming a good reason to stay home at nights. Unfortunately, there are no commentaries or deleted scenes or gag reels on the DVDs, but there is a pretty decent Making-of featurette with some of the writers and cast. If you haven't seen it, but are interested in the premise of a girl who discovers she is the child of darkness and whose father is determined to influence her toward that dark side while she struggles against him, I do recommend this series. Just make sure to keep watching past the first few episodes. In the pilot, Show says in response to someone's insistence that Christina has good in her, "Let the world have its way with her. I guarantee you, she'll bring it to its knees," and the best part of the series is watching how the world does have its way with her and just how that affects her choice between good and evil. And if you have seen the show, you should definitely buy this set and watch the unaired episodes. They are, without question, worth the cost of the set alone.

Well . . . it had potential:
First off, I want to say that I started to watch this show because of Marni Noxon, whom I was a fan of from Buffy (my first TV obsession). Having acquired an appreciation for her writing--I loved the heartbreaking scenes she often wrote, although I was aware of her occasional tendency toward overwritten dialogue--I was intrigued by the concept of Point Pleasant and Noxon's association with it. And so, I dutifully watched all the episodes they aired--all 4 or 5 of them. Here's the bad news: I was disappointed. The writing was often cringingly bad, the acting was sometimes painful to watch as many of the actors appear to have been cast based solely on looks (as is often the case), and the story seemed a little too one-note. Point Pleasant would have made a great movie, but I could not see how a full series could be sustained from the basic precept of a seemingly innocent blond teenage girl who is actually the child of Satan and is ostensibly destined to destroy the world. The series itself didn't seem to have a clear idea of where it was going, which apparently was the case. But here's the good news: I KEPT WATCHING! Something about the show had me hooked. I can't say that I ever completely liked an episode, but I continued to watch the show because it had possibilities. The potential was there, and every episode seemed just a little bit closer to realizing that potential. I mean, the main character is the teenaged daughter of Satan whose evil powers flare up when she is upset or angry (two emotional states that are almost constant for teenagers). Don't tell me there wasn't untapped potential in that concept. Unfortunately, Fox yanked it far too soon. Don't these network executives understand that television shows take more than 4 or 5 episodes to catch on and develop a fan base, never mind to work out the kinks in the writers' room? Most people hadn't even heard of the show when Fox pulled it from the air, and word of mouth takes a little longer than some people might think. Besides, some of the best, longest-lasting, and most-beloved television shows around didn't have great ratings in the beginning and took often a full season to find their legs. Now, I am not saying that Point Pleasant would necessarily have run for 7 years like Buffy or become the ratings blockbuster that Lost has, but given the chance, I think it could have become a good show. And it did have me coming back for more even when I wasn't satisfied. After all, there always seems to be a market in the film industry for controversial religious-themed films (Stigmata, Lost Souls, The Third Miracle, The Passion of the Christ, The Devil's Advocate, etc). Although I haven't bought this DVD yet, I think I will. Apparently there are a full 13 episodes, and the unaired ones are reputed to be the best of the lost. And if that isn't incentive enough for those of you who did follow the series in its short-lived time on the air, there is supposed to be a conclusion (of sorts) to the story. So, at least they didn't leave us hanging. Extras are almost nil, but the set isn't too expensive, especially given that there are 13 episodes. If you liked the show, or if you are like me and watched it even while you winced, I'd say take a chance on buying the DVDs so that you can see how it all ends--and maybe figure out just what it was that made it such a guilty addiction.