'October Road' Tries Too Hard, Fails
We tend to go for the melodramatic, the wannabee hipsteresque and anything with Laura Prepon but we're just not sure about ABC's new drama october road. The anachronistic selection of music in the form of Boston's Don't Look Back and REO Speedwagon's Take it on the Run, tries way too hard, and strangely so, to define the period of time between the main character's leaving town and his return a mere ten years later.
If, as the main character in this series did, wrote a book that so maligned his hometown friends, why would he return? Oh wait. This is TV. This is conflict and conflict is a key ingredient in drama. Too bad it comes off like a 13 year old whining to their parents because they won't allow the kid to spend yet another hour mindlessly IMing senseless missives.
Oh, and that last line of the episode, "the way I see it, this thing's in diapers," has to be the lamest attempt at creating a catch phrase since Lacey Chabert tried to make "fetch" work in Mean Girls.
Comments
Was it just me, or did it seem like they didn't have any sort of consistency in terms of time? In the early part, it had the "feel" of being something from the 70's -- with the sepia-washed film and the graininess of the shots -- except it was supposed to be the 1990's, latter part of the 90's at that.
And the kid was recording with a camcorder that looked like it was bought earlier this week at Best Buy.
The whole "its in diapers" thing was pathetic. The people who thought that was cool are probably closer to wearing Depends than Pampers.
I might give it another shot. Pilot episodes are notoriously bad.
WOW! I guess we were watching two very different shows last night! I loved it!
The reason he went back home was because he was having writer's block and had been riddled with the guilt of how his book hurt his friends. He felt he had fences to mend and that might be what was at the heart of his writing difficulties.
Once he got back there, he realized that all the things he had left behind were some of the greatest things he ever had, even with all their quirks.
I won't give away the other human motivation for those who missed the episode.
Having moved away from my hometown for almost 10 years, I went through a very similar experience. You change, your friends change but that deep bond that you shared during those formative years is the root of who you are and inexplicably is what keeps you all linked together.
Nick has bridges that need rebulding ... that is the premise of the story and how he goes about doing it.
I had high hopes for this as well - mostly because I want a vehicle for Laura Prepon to ride as long as possible.
I will agree, though - this is almost the exact conversation I had about the show today at work. REO Speedwagon in 1997? Grainy film? SEPIA TONE??? We had the internet in 1997. We had e-mail. His town wasn't in a freaking time warp!
As a late-20's kind of guy, I felt it was rather harsh to paint my last year of high school as though it were the dark ages.
Coming from Beantown myself, I can tell you, my buddies and me - all of us holding down blue collar jobs... We don't listen to hip-hop or "emo". We listen to Jethro Tull, AC/DC, Metallica, etc. Old-school stuff. So I think they got the music right on. People that complain about it are the late 20s kids that were lucky enough to go to college and now work some Yuppie job in the city, where you learn about what's "cool". The rest of us still like the music our older brothers turned us onto...
I thought it was great. Everyone needs to remember it was a pilot, if the show gets good reviews they will put more energy and money into making it better. I agree with everyone about it being difficult to follow but I really feel the show has potential.
I just watched tonights episode . I am sorry to all that like this show . I love it which means it is destin to fail. The only story line I would drop is the pizza girl thing .
I agree the pilot had a 70's 80's feel felt a little out place .
I like the whole feel of the show . I can't wait finally thursday nights and we can get out of the hospital.
I just watched tonights episode . I am sorry to all that like this show . I love it which means it is destin to fail. The only story line I would drop is the pizza girl thing .
I agree the pilot had a 70's 80's feel felt a little out place .
I like the whole feel of the show . I can't wait finally thursday nights and we can get out of the hospital.
Catchphrases? Berries and Cream! Bom Chicka Wah Wah! Just set it, and forget it!