Omar Epps
Frances Fisher
Matt Craven
Devin Kelley
Mark Hildreth
Samaire Armstrong
Landon Gimenez
Kurtwood Smith

Developed by:
Aaron Zelman

2014-2015
Drama, Fantasy
ABC
TV-14

“Resurrection” is ABC’s attempt to tell the story of a town where people start to come back from the dead. Its first season will consist of eight episodes. “The Returned,” a French TV show that started in 2013, tells a similar story; its first season also consists of eight episodes. However, these two shows are based on different source material: “The Returned” is based on a French film called “They Came Back.” (Both are called “Les Revenants” in French. I’ll use that title from now on for clarity’s sake.) “Resurrection” is based on a novel by Jason Mott entitled “The Returned,” but it has no relation to the French TV show of the same English name.

While “Resurrection” seems to be a typical network drama (yawn), “Les Revenants” is eerie, edgy, and stylistically strong. “Resurrection” is brighter and more melodramatic. That could work, if the creative team knew how to capitalize on that style. Then, it would be an interesting counterpoint to “Les Revenants,” instead of a distant echo.

The acting in “Resurrection” is fairly strong, but the writers seem to have run out of ideas halfway through the first episode. It seems that they’re trying to string the viewers along, but they run the risk of boring those viewers in the process. News flash: It’s not that intriguing.

Once Jacob (an eight-year-old boy) is returned to his parents, who are now 32 years older than they were at the time of his death, and once he begins to show signs that he’s their dead son, “Resurrection” stalls a bit. The pace isn’t the problem (this show shouldn’t move too quickly); it’s the lack of a compelling narrative that’s the problem. The writers have introduced a little bit of mystery, but there isn’t enough to make me care. (The mystery comes from the presence of a previously unknown man who, according to Jacob, was present at the scene of the deaths of Jacob and his aunt.) Also, it’s good to see Omar Epps as the lead, but that’s not enough either. (Epps plays an ICE agent who brings Jacob back from China to Jacob’s hometown of Arcadia, Missouri after Jacob awakens from the dead.)

I hope that the writers have a lot more up their sleeves and that they can figure out a way to present the story lines in an attention-grabbing way, instead of using banal soap-opera techniques. (The score is especially intrusive.) We’ll see. …

The second episode of “Resurrection” provides more of the same for the most part, until its end, when some darkness is finally introduced. Most of it drags along, though. The execution’s just not potent enough for the pace. I’ll give it one more shot, since the third episode is being teased as some sort of turning point. Again, we’ll see. …

The third episode provides more of the same. However, according to one character, we do learn that the returned may be aliens. I’m done. …

I mistakenly DVRed the fourth episode, and it’s even more of the same. I think that one of the main problems is the way that “Resurrection” reveals the returned characters. Unlike in “Les Revenants,” we don’t see their backstories nearly enough. (They do explore the mysterious man’s backstory, though.) We hear about them in bits and pieces.

In addition, the returned characters mingle a little too easily with the people in their community. Jacob and his parents do suffer pushback for this, but I think it would be a stronger choice for the parents to want to shield Jacob from the outside world. That’s what happens in “Les Revenants.” There is one inquisitive lady (played by Veronica Cartwright) who questions Jacob’s appearance and influences others against his presence, but that’s not enough.

Furthermore, they don’t explore the cause of the returns at all, at least not so far. That exploration helps “Les Revenants” tremendously. It’s a way to connect all of the characters in the community, and it adds much more depth to the story.

Beyond its premise, I don’t have a reason to care about “Resurrection.” I don’t even care about this mysterious connection between Jacob and the mysterious man. Supposedly, the fifth episode will contain many shockers. Whatever. While the pilot drew in many viewers, each subsequent episode has fewer viewers than its previous episode. That should come as no surprise.

Verdict: Whatever

About: (Source: resurrection)

The people of Arcadia, Missouri are forever changed when their deceased loved ones suddenly start to reappear. An 8-year-old American boy (Landon Gimenez) wakes up alone in a rice paddy in a rural Chinese province with no idea how he got there. Details start to emerge when the boy, who calls himself Jacob, recalls that his hometown is Arcadia, and an Immigration agent, J. Martin Bellamy (Omar Epps), takes him there. The home he claims as his own is occupied by a 60-year-old couple, Henry (Kurtwood Smith) and Lucille Langston (Frances Fisher), who lost their son, Jacob, more than 30 years ago.