How are we supposed to feel about the family at the heart ofThe Family?
Are we to see something of ourselves in these suffering and suspect characters?
Are they a portrait of brokenness or a critique of phoniness?
Credit: Jack Rowand/ABC
Does the show even care about its people?
Actually, that might be charitable.
preserve your wine forScandal.
Theres nothing to tweet about here.
Claire (Joan Allen), now the mayor of Red Pines, poured herself into a political career.
The strength they present to the public is cold and bogus, just like their marriage.
Something needs to change if the Warrens are to move out of their respective dark holes.
They need to be broken anew, so they can be put together right.
And then one day, something does change.
Adam (Liam James), the youngest Warren, comes shambling home.
But how could this be?
Is this a miracle or cruel conspiracy?
Maybe Adam got buried in Stephen KingsPet Sematary.
This is Maine, after all.
I can imagine an extraordinary television series coming from this premise.
I can imagine a show that explores how trauma can hijack and destroy identity.
I can imagine a show that explores how grief can shatter relationships and reshape lives.
I can imagine that television series because that television series exists.
You should watch it if you havent already.
It shows capacity for interesting ideas but has only meager, cliche imagination for them.
What does society owe Hank for his lost time and stained rep?
How does he live amid the suspicions of his community?
Sensationalism abounds: ridiculous sex, contrived shockers, overheated melodrama propelled by sketchy character logic.
Theres a jaded journalist (Floriana Lima) who writes a lesbian lifestyle blog who screws for scoops.
And isnt Claire supposed to be some craven politico?
Wouldnt the quick capture of a predator help her campaign?
Why not push her son to report all he knows, right now?
Adam isnt much help anyway.
His memory is fuzzy, and when he speaks of it, only cryptic riddles pass from his lips.
WhatThe Familyreally wants to be is a puzzle box, not a thoughtful rumination on difficult themes.
Everyone has secrets, everyone is hiding something, even the ostensible victim.
Adam Warren is the Nicholas Brody of sexual violence dramas!)
than about the psychological and physical damage done to him.
Put another way: It wants us to engage the drama with doubt the victim skepticism.
This is risky business.
Hopefully the show will earn this queasy gambit.
The cast isnt bad.
Adam is a problematic creation, but Liam James is mesmerizing.
But theyre the only actors who thrive amid the ambiguity.
Everyone else flails to connect with something real.
Theres a scene when Claire tries to reconcile with John.
Maybe shes being sincere.
Maybe both things are true.
I felt more confusion than complexity.
Johns response to Claire is my response toThe Familyin general: Im repulsed by it, not drawn in.
The Familysstructure also works against the show.
The strategy cultivates intrigue but prohibits emotional investment, at least as the strategy is presently practiced.
I can imagine this might improve over time, as the picture comes into focus.
I doubt Ill care enough to stick around long enough to find out.
