Sometimes, things that should be pretty obvious, don't appear that way until it's too late. In this case, it probably wasn't a good idea to jump back into television reviews a mere two months after having a baby; it was even dumber to pick a show that offered up a whopping nineteen episodes, far and away the most out of any show I have reviewed up to this point. Add to this the fact that I watched every episode twice (because I was too tired and/or lazy to sit down to review them the first time), and you might begin to feel as burned out on it as I am.
Anyway, I have to say that the show was a little more uneven than I remembered, having caught a few episodes back during its initial run, with some made to stand out amongst shows of similar ilk, while others seemed like they were content just to “blend in”. It was also uneven in quality, though I feel like that is a criticism that can technically be leveled at almost any show ever produced. But when it was firing on all cylinders, man did it deliver the goods: “Heart on a Chain”, which I feel like I mention quite frequently, is pretty much a perfect example of episodic young adult television, while the the original series finale “Reality Takes a Holiday” cleverly centers its basic premise on breaking the “fourth wall”, an idea that not many “kids” shows would have the guts to do.
When it was bad, it was bad, with episodes like “The Retainer” and the complete dud “Tornado Days” immediately springing to mind, but thankfully the show was “mediocre” more often than it was flat-out bad. As unbalanced as it could be, I at least have to be thankful that it wasn't wildly so: there were more stand-out episodes than complete bombs, so at least there wasn't a huge fluctuation, and that is enough for me to recommend the series as a whole.
What it consistently delivered, though, were characters that had the audacity to be smart, something so often missing from shows aimed toward younger crowds. Flip on any number of shows now—even ones geared toward teens—and you'll immediately find that the formula tends to consist of obnoxious characters overacting to an obnoxious degree, while shouting recycled lines that were never funny to begin with. In "Eerie", Marshall, and his trusty sidekick Simon, are kids that could pass for almost any kid in America today, and that's what makes them so instantly relatable.
By extension, even (a majority of) the adult characters were several notches above the norm. The parents encourage Marshall's imagination and curiosity within a reasonable limit, and even know about his constant hunts for the bizarre, which make up the framework for many of these episodes (in a cute touch, they even ask him in a couple episodes if he's in the middle of any investigations before asking him to accompany them to a family event). It never devolves into a “Marshall vs. his parents” storyline, which so many shows tend to fall back on; sure, he sometimes has to sneak around and avoid his parents to get the info he needs, but it's never with malicious intent. In other words, he is part of perhaps the most functional family unit in television history. (Though I will say Marshall's sister isn't really given much to do, but she's hot so I'm not completely against her inclusion.)
The show also wasn't afraid to back down from tackling stronger themes, which they did more than a couple times. Simon's parents are never shown, but it is insinuated that his parents were abusive, and that is why he is always with Marshall. In another episode, entitled “Who's Who”, a lone girl with an alcoholic father and several brothers is always expected to take care of them; the entire installment is about her trying to escape her captive life by using drawings that come to life. In every instance, it's handled with humor and a healthy dose of reality, a balancing act that's hard to do, but that the show pulled off well.
As I mentioned in an individual review, the show's lone season did go on for way too long (I could have seen cutting at least six episodes), which I think is what prevents it from having as much of a cult following as it could. Not that nineteen half-hour episodes is too much to slog through, but in my opinion, it's a big reason for its unevenness. You can always tell when a show is frantically trying to make something work when a new main character shows up unannounced, and that's what happened with Jason Marsden's “Dash X”, who became the “is he bad or is he good” kind of guy starting in episode thirteen (again proving my theory they should have just cut their losses there).
Regardless of its criticisms, I would still take an “Eerie, Indiana” over almost anything that passes for children's entertainment nowadays. It's a show that, almost thirty years later, is still ahead of its time in that there really hasn't been too much like it since then. Like all good children's shows, it catered to the parents of the audience, throwing in tidbits about conspiracy theories, taking aim at “liberals”, politics, beliefs, and other heady topics. How some of the comments made it through the censors is rather shocking (especially the references to the “Iran-Contra affair”, which is mentioned in no fewer than three episodes, and was a huge scandal just a couple of years prior).
It was fresh in that it didn't rely on many effects, which is also a big reason why shows always seem super-dated (after all, we've come a long way since the early '90s). That might be enough to cause disinterest in many kids, but its minimalist approach means that more gravity is placed on the story, rather than trying to cover up plot deficiencies with special effects. Hell, there aren't too many adult shows that would be daring enough to try this, which speaks to just how different it really was.
Lastly, it was intelligent enough not to assume its viewers were complete idiots, a decision that ironically probably lead to its early demise. If you're looking for something unique, and don't require your stories to have a bunch of “razzle-dazzle”, you really should give “Eerie” a try; it's a very good young adult/kids show that deserves far more attention than it has received.
SERIES RATING: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment