Matt Dillon
Carla Gugino
Toby Jones
Shannyn Sossamon
Reed Diamond
Tim Griffin
Charlie Tahan
Juliette Lewis
Melissa Leo
Terrence Howard

Developed by:
Chad Hodge

Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
2015-
FOX

TV-14

Fox’s “Wayward Pines” is focused on a town of the same name, supposedly in Idaho, where nothing seems to add up. The title, of course, is more than just a title. Matt Dillon plays Secret Service agent Ethan Burke, who finds himself in this town after surviving a car crash. He’s searching for two missing fellow agents. A nurse, played by Melissa Leo, is the first person he meets in the town. Unsurprisingly, there’s something wrong with her. In fact, there’s something off about everyone he meets. In addition, he can’t reach the outside world, and the outside world can’t reach him. His wife and fellow agents have no clue about where he is or about whether he was in a car crash or not. They recovered his car, which provides no clues. You can guess where this is going.

This show, developed by Chad Hodge and executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan (he directed the pilot, by the way), fits in with many other shows and films that came before it: including not only much of Shyamalan’s former work but also “Lost,” “Fringe,” “American Horror Story,” and their TV forbears. So, it’s nothing new, but that’s not necessarily a problem: With the glut of offerings nowadays, novelty is a hard thing to come by. Delivery is the major determining factor, instead. More on that later.

In the pilot, we don’t really get to know Burke as a character. They tell us who he is, but we aren’t given enough to identify with him. Instead, we’re simply thrust into the town right along with him. The scenes outside of the town, largely featuring his wife and son, don’t matter much, as a result. However, this show doesn’t take too long to clarify whether Burke is hallucinating (which is important to know, since he’s a recovering alcoholic). At least, we think we know the deal by the end of the pilot.

Overall, I found the pilot uninspiring. It was too mild to overcome its been-there-done-that premise. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t interesting either. However, the cast is a good one. In addition to Dillon and Leo, Terrence Howard, Carla Gugino, Toby Jones, Juliette Lewis (who’s back to acting like a human after “Secrets and Lies”), and others are on display. (Hodge, creator of The CW’s “Runaway” and NBC’s “The Playboy Club,” doesn’t have the greatest of track records, though.) This kind of show could improve with time, but they better hurry. There’s too much to watch to sit around and wait for some sizzle. Better to start with it, instead.

Verdict: OK

About: (Source: facebook.com/wayward)

Based on the best-selling novel, “Pines,” by Blake Crouch, and brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Signs,”), WAYWARD PINES is an intense, mind-bending new thriller in which nothing is what it seems. Secret Service agent ETHAN BURKE (Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon, “Crash,” “City of Ghosts”) arrives in the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, ID, on a mission to find two missing federal agents. But instead of answers, Ethan’s investigation only turns up more questions. Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the life he knew, from the husband and father he was, until he must face the terrifying reality that he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.