Reunion 1.1: "1986"

Written by Jon Harmon Feldman
Directed by Jon Amiel

In which a police detective in 2005 confronts a woman regarding the recent suspicious death of an old friend around the time of their 20th high school reunion, and she begins telling the story…


“Reunion” is not the kind of series that I typically watch, largely because of the kinds of predictable elements that are strewn throughout this pilot episode. A lot of the “twists” were easy enough to anticipate, and while they might eventually add up to an intriguing set of divergent paths, they don’t make for the most interesting introduction to these six characters. But that’s not what makes the series worth the time; the gimmick, in this case, sparks my interest.

Thursday nights are already really packed, so it takes something that promises a payoff to get on my viewing schedule. That typically means something unusual in the premise. Playing out a 20-year long mystery over the course of a season is a great idea, continuing along the same path that “24” and “Prison Break” have already trodden. The gimmick is the star of the show, at least in the beginning, and the question is whether or not the cast and writing staff can capitalize on it.

That’s where my concerns lie. A lot of the writing in this pilot was terrible. It wasn’t just a question of using predictable plot devices to get the story going. It was how blandly the whole thing progressed. There wasn’t much pop to the dialogue. A lot of the lines that were meant to be ironic or sarcastic fell absolutely flat, and I had the feeling that the cast had been directed to portray their characters as if they were starring in a “Best of the 80s” montage.

Some of the line deliveries were absolutely painful. Will stands out as a particularly bad example, because most of the time, I was cringing when he was trying to emote. But a lot of the scenes came across as “high school drama” quality, as if the cast wasn’t sure how exactly to pull it off. If this had been a completely green cast with little experience, it might have made more sense. But a lot of these actors are experienced; that’s why the lack of presence is so perplexing. For example, I love Alexa Davalos, so I was shocked to see how hesitantly she seemed to approach her character.

Speaking of Alexa, I was certain that she would catch my eye the most during this hour, so I was taken aback when that didn’t happen. Her character hasn’t grown on me yet, I guess. The one character that has gotten my attention is Carla. Both in the 1986 and 2005, Carla left me breathless. I’m not sure how I missed the gorgeous Chyler Leigh before this, but I’m very happy to get the chance to see her every week. She reminds me of the kind of girl I would have drooled after in high school (and for that matter, college, work, etc.)!

So from that perspective, using Carla as the link between past and present, as the most “normal”-seeming character among the six main cast members, does much to keep my attention. I’m hoping that the writing woes were due to the conflicting demands that always plague pilot episodes, made worse by the needs of the season’s arc structure. For now, I consider myself intrigued, but guardedly so.

Writing: 1/2
Acting: 1/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 4/10