A few people have been nudging me for the past couple of weeks to start watching the M. Night Shyamalan-produced/directed series Wayward Pines on Fox. Well, thanks to the lovely Hulu Plus service, I have finally received the chance to watch it – the first 3 episodes anyway. It’s a real cranium contort. And now I’m highly recommending it to you.
The 10-episode miniseries sees Secret Service agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) investigating the disappearance of two fellow agents in the strange Idaho town of Wayward Pines, where everyone is as happy as can be. He finds out that one was murdered and the other has been settled into a marriage for over a decade. But he soon learns the inhabitants of Wayward Pines are trapped there by a set of rules they must all follow, including not to talk about the past. There is seemingly no escape from Wayward Pines, and if you try you are killed. Meanwhile, his wife and child are searching for him from the real world.
No stranger to twists and turns, this series is the perfect opportunity for M. Night Shyamalan to stretch his muscles and do what he does best. It delivers many, many twists and turns each episode, providing you with the perfect faculty flay to keep you from ever sleeping again.
But it isn’t wholly perfect. There are some pretty basic logical faults the series has hit already, mostly in the way Dillon’s character acts towards others – specifically in reference to episode 3, but I won’t spoil the fun. It adds to the drama, but takes away from the already unbelievable spectacle.
That said, don’t go online looking for spoilers. YOU WILL FIND THEM. This is based off a series of novels by author Blake Crouch, which you can find here. But yeah, seriously. Go watch this. Episode 3 delivers the best twist yet.
Wayward Pines airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Fox.
The books weren’t bad, though I’m not generally a fan of Blake Crouch (I should be, given the genre he writes in, but his stuff has never really grabbed me). The real problem for me is that I haven’t liked pretty much anything M. Night Shyamalan has been involved in since “Unbreakable”. But I still might give this a look …
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It reminds me a bit of The Prisoner, but as a serialised drama.
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Some people who have read the books have been disappointed. I haven’t read the books myself. I’ve liked it so far… but I must admit… it has the feeling of a series that will be good for a while and then let me down with a less than satisfactory ending. Reserving full judgment until I see how it all plays out.
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This looks really interesting! I had no idea it even existed till right now!
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Read all the books and have been recording this, but haven’t started watching yet.
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Are the books good? I had never heard of them prior to this series.
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The books were great, so I was hoping the series could to them justice.
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