While not necessarily a bad show, "Between" misses the mark on a number of key components that make a suspense drama really click.
Nearly every main character is a two-dimensional archetype, which would be fine as suburban youths are not expected to have a wealth of complexity to begin with, but the show's virtual absence of character development results in a continual feeling ofWhile not necessarily a bad show, "Between" misses the mark on a number of key components that make a suspense drama really click.
Nearly every main character is a two-dimensional archetype, which would be fine as suburban youths are not expected to have a wealth of complexity to begin with, but the show's virtual absence of character development results in a continual feeling of detachment from our protagonists, lessening the gravity of their trials and tribulations.
On the other hand, while I have heard many reviewers knock the dialogue for being bland and sometimes plain silly, I feel that while it doesn't make for the most entertaining character interactions, the dialogue befits that of teenagers and young adults. They are going to be any variation of blunt, ambiguous, or just not well thought out in general. It would be more off-putting for 18-21-year-olds to be slinging snappy lines of Hollywood quotation.
"Between" also suffers from pacing and continuity issues. The main plot, if a little hollow and ambiguous, kicks things off pretty strongly as the first episode covers a ten-day span over which a disease that kills all those over the age of 21 spreads like wildfire. Small windows of action are shown during this time (Day 1, Day 4, Day 6, etc) with a repetitive sort of pattern; some reference to the virus, introduce another sub-plot, a marginally significant adult dies, etcetera. Then, as early as the second episode, the main plot fades to the background as a bevy of sub-plots begins to struggle for relevance, at least until the last half of Episode 6 when the main plot shows up again and attempts to stuff itself into a 20-minute slot of improbable action and lukewarm suspense. As well, while the town of Pretty Lake itself is believably depicted, the appearance of any given main character where the plot requires is not. The town is not a huge place, but no one at the site of any peril could throw a rock without hitting at least one main character. Even in remote locations where no one could reasonably expect another character to come into the mix, a walking deus ex machina always manages an appearance wherever there is trouble, even if that particular person was clearly across town doing some other such thing only five minutes earlier.
"Between" comes across as a fledgling attempt at the survival drama genre that has gained prevalence over the last 10 years, but as of its introduction, falls short of its predecessors (Under the Dome, Lost, Jericho, even Revolution to an extent). Maybe with a full season, "Between" would have room to grow and flesh out its characters.… Expand
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