In a not-so-pleasant town with a not-so-pleasant guest, Fox producers have created a gem: “Point Pleasant.”
The show tells the story of a teenage blond, Christina Nickson (Elisabeth Harnois), who washes up on the shores of a small New Jersey town and wreaks havoc among the townspeople.
Naturally, Christina is the spawn of
Satan who knows little of her origins other than that her absent mother was from Point Pleasant. As she conveniently begins her search, her powers begin to manifest (by simply wishing pain on others, it happens) and raise hell in the turbulent town.
While Fox could have written “Point Pleasant” as a teenage drama with only a tinge of supernatural, they didn’t, and the show is better for it. Marti Noxon, one of the executive producers, has infused the cultish appeal of her previous hit, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
Harnois plays a decent devil, although the moments of romantic tension between her and the local lifeguard are unimpressive. “There was no vibe. That was vibeless,” Christina explains to a friend. Well said.
But where the teenage drama fails, the twisted lives of the adults succeed, especially with the introduction of Lucas Boyd (Grant Show), who comes to the town to watch Christina assume her true identity and dabble in town secrets. His witty one-liners and charismatic charm give a humorous twist to the dark side.
The town comes equipped with lust, insecurity and obsession–traits played well by the host of adult characters.
Thankfully, for consistency, the series will revisit Christina’s search for her mother next week. Any mention of the search disappeared after the second episode. The town gets more unpleasant with each episode, leading to a final showdown of good versus evil.
With either outcome, Fox has enough material to keep “Point Pleasant” brewing.
– Queen Latifah hosts the Grammy Awards at 7 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
– It’s the beginning of the 10th season for CBS classic “Survivor: Palau” at 7 p.m. Thursday.
– Cynthia Nixon goes from “Sex and the City” to sick in our city with a guest role on NBC’s “ER” at 9 p.m. Thursday.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Drew Sottardi (dsottardi@tribune.com)
