One of the problems that Heroes faced after, and even toward the end of, Season 1, was that they had a handful of characters that were so powerful that they couldn't write for them anymore without plummeting into logistical nightmares. Alphas' closest parallel is X-Men (creator Zak Penn co-wrote X-Men: The Last Stand and gets story credit on X2 and The Avengers), but many folks often bring up NBC's Heroes, since it's a notable recent TV series featuring out of costume super-humans. Season 2 had a few low moments, but for the most part it revved things up with some large scale, master villain-style schemes from somber, Civil War-era villain, Stanton Parish. Sometimes hindered by its basic cable TV budget, Alphas makes up for its occasional fudging by giving us characters that we care about and emotional situations that resonate. Lee Rosen, Alphas has always been a good show, if uneven at times. Confidential, Good Night and Good Luck) as team leader Dr. But whether it can pivot into something even greater remains to be seen.Anchored by the incredible David Strathairn (L.A. That layered storytelling, presented in such an undeniably catchy way, makes The Family yet another strong entry to ABC’s primetime arsenal. It gives some actual time to the grief and confusion following such a horrifying event, and yet, does its best work in how that grief can become supplanted by suspicion and alienation after Adam returns. The series isn’t necessarily equipped to deal with the true emotional ramifications of its story of kidnap as well as, say, Starz’s harrowing miniseries The Missing, but it doesn’t just gloss over them, either. So far, The Family seems to be setting up another potentially obsession-worthy mystery series for fans of ABC’s other, similar dramas, but having only seen two episodes (and the second is a little too repetitive of the first), it’s hard to know how well it can hold on to that spark in the long run. It remains to be seen, though, if the other mysteries that replace it end up being as compelling, or if the show would have been better off just sticking to being a traditional family drama. It’s central to the show’s opening episodes, but it’s also a fixation that could end up leaving viewers more irritated than engaged if it’s dragged out for too long. But as unfolds quickly, Adam appears to be alive, and questions about why Hank confessed to a crime he didn’t commit, as well as the integrity of the original investigation (led by Margot Bingham’s Nina Meyer), and what kind of relationship Hank had with Adam in the first place, start piling up.Īt the TCA Winter Press Tour, journalists were assured that The Family plans to answer the question of Adam’s truth sooner than later (whether or not he is who he says he is), which is a good thing. Though the Warrens have all been deeply affected by what happened to Adam in their own unique ways, The Family also explores the plight of the Warren’s neighbor Hank ( Andrew McCarthy), a sex offender who spent a decade in jail for Adam’s murder. All have secrets, and by Episode 2, all are starting to reveal them and turn on one another (helped along, naturally, by a super-shady journalist, played by Floriana Lima). Adam’s older siblings Willa ( The Newsroom's Alison Pill) and Danny ( Friday Night Lights' Zach Gilford) are opposites of each other, with Willa as a mini-me of her mother - driven, even a little ruthless, a perfectionist - and Danny as a burnout who can’t get his life on track. Her husband, John ( Sherlock's charming Rupert Graves, with an unfortunately wavering accent here) meanwhile has a wandering eye, and has also made his name speaking on the grief counseling circuit. The Warrens are led by matriarch Claire ( Joan Allen, in her first broadcast appearance), an ambitious Republican politician who is looking to run for bigger things. (The primary question being whether he really is Adam). The show wants to have its cake and eat it too when it comes to these two dramatic events, so viewers are propelled back and forth through time to experience where the family was on the day Adam went missing (and the fallout from that), as well as the complicated emotions that go in to his return. The Family focuses on the Warrens, whose son Adam went missing when he was eight years old, before seemingly escaping and returning to them over a decade later. In this case, the murder didn’t happen - maybe - but there are many things that both set The Family apart from How to Get Away with Murder, Scandal, Quantico, and also show how closely it plans to follow their formulas. That's shorthand for saying the new drama series is completely on-brand for ABC and its primetime focus of twisted dramas full of secrets, flashbacks, more secrets, and probably some murder. The most important thing to know about The Family is that it’s created by Jenna Bans, a former ShondaLand writer.
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