User reviews

I'm still so angry this was canceled!! The storyline, the characters, the acting, everything was so good. Andrew McCarthy (Hank Asher) was especially phenomenal. I'd pay a billion and a half dollars to reboot it.

This tv show is off the charts amazing. Great character development and great twists and turns. Just super disappointed there wasn't a second season. Make a second season to finish the story and I may give it a 10.

I have to be honest. When I saw the pilot I was very skeptical about this show. Too much clichés for me. But episode to episode it gets better. The first thing that I REALLY like is that we know most of the things very early in the show. I'm sick and tired of wasting time in series that doesn't give us clues or facts. The second thing that I like is the cast. They do an amazing job here. Especially Andrew McCarthy and Michael Esper. I've caught myself staring Michael Esper with hate because I really believed he was like his character. And this means that he's amazing in this role.

Yes the pilot was not good but the show deserve your time.

I can not believe they canceled this show. I am very upset. They should have at least wrapped everything up in the last episode in the season finale. Overall I believe the acting is great and I do not understand why this show has such low ratings. Shows such as Pretty Little Liars have been running on ABC for years and the acting is sub par. All I want is there to be a episode concluding the whole series and explaining the outcome. You can not cancel a show on a cliff hanger, it is just upsetting. I personally know multiple people who loved this show and thought it was quality content. I know there are many reviews stating the actor is bad but you have to look at the story of the show.

Really liked this series...doesn't make sense ABC cancelled it, just lower the budget for s2 and bump it up again if that goes well. Great acting, intriguing story - an unsolved mystery, that just looks stupid by ABC.

I just found this show two days ago... and finished it in that time! I am so hooked! I NEED to know what was gonna happen? But more than that, I need to know how it was gonna happen.. Jenna Bans, release the scripts.. or write the scripts and release them.. Do it for the fans!

Hello! I am french, my English is bad but i try : I very like this series. an original story, good suspense, very good actors, surprising character's reaction. characters whom inspired doubt, pity or incomprehension. I give 9 and not 10 because of the relation between the father and the policewoman, it was not necessary. I has never missed an episode. I wish a season 2, please!!!!!

Five years ago, this series was cancelled, and yet it still haunts me. There were things about it that I liked and things I did not. It was a bit of a melodrama, which could be off-putting, and it was rather perverse, which could also be off-putting but also, like the distress of witnessing a road accident, made it difficult to look away from.

For those who do not know, the plot centers on a woman named Claire Warren (Joan Allen) who is the mayor of a small town (supposedly in the U. S. state of Maine, although there is nothing about the people or place that says "Maine" to me, and I grew up in nearby Massachusetts). She is also the mother of three children, one of whom, Adam, has been missing and presumed murdered for ten years. (The name, Adam, perhaps unfortunately, echoes that of Adam Walsh, a boy whose abduction and murder, along with the subsequent case of a girl named Amber Hagerman, contributed to increased systematic and rigorous responses to child abduction in the U. S. and, perhaps, to similar emergency protocols in other countries.)

Claire is contemplating a run for governor of Maine when a youth claiming to be Adam (Liam James) appears at her home, dredging up unpleasant memories for the family. Also, each character is apprehensive about whether this youth is really the long-lost Adam. They must reevaluate how the original loss affected their behavior in its aftermath as well as how it still down to the present day. Not only does Claire partially owe her election as mayor to being the mother of an abducted child, but her husband, John (Rupert Graves), owes his success as an author to a book about surviving the loss of a child.

BTW although one might think that this plot is improbable, there are documented cases of people who may have been long-lost relatives turning up and being believed by some and doubted by others. An old documented case of this sort was the basis for The Return of Martin Guerre (1982).

One of the many disturbing characters is Hank (Andrew McCarthy) who, although actually a pedophile, was wrongly convicted of the kidnap and murder of Adam nine years before.

Disturbingly, the viewer is invited to feel both sympathy and repulsion toward Hank who, as a registered sex offender, is forced to take a drug that chemically "castrates" him. He therefore cannot develop a socially and legally more acceptable relationship with an adult even though he tries. Still, the viewer is justified in not feeling too sorry for him because he feels sorry enough for himself.

Indeed, one of the creepiest and therefore most memorable lines in the series belongs to Hank. When someone questions him about whether he saw the real abductor, he describes the way a strange man was looking at the boy. He is then asked how he noticed and remembered this man's behavior so vividly. "Because I was looking too," says Hank.

Naturally, the detective (Margot Bingham) who made her career by making sure that Hank went to prison is not looking as good as she once did to those around or to herself. Adding to the soap opera, she is still haunted by the affair she had with John, Claire's husband and Adam's father.

Nobody in Adam's family is dealing well with the return. The mother is even reminded of her anger at-of all people-Adam, precisely because she thought she had taught him never to trust strangers or to go off with them. She feels guilty for blaming the victim but cannot help herself.

In the two children who remained, now young adults, Adam's return rekindles the old guilt they felt because they were supposed to be watching their brother on that fateful day. Willa (Alison Pill) and Danny (Zach Gilford), the adult children, seem the most sympathetic to me, but only because their flaws and weaknesses are traceable to a horrible and public family tragedy that brought them unwanted attention and guilt at vulnerable ages. They were innocent, and now they feel so bad about themselves that they are the only characters who probably feel worse than they deserve.

The ultimate mystery: who is the youth who claims to be their long-lost loved one if he isn't who he says he is? How else does he know some things that identify him as Adam, yet occasionally does not remember other things? Where has he been all these years, and why can he not help investigators to locate the place where he was kept or identify the man who kept him there?

Then there is the journalist, Bridey Cruz (Floriana Lima), a particularly irredeemable character who does not care who she has to hurt (or sleep with) to get the dirt on the Warren family. In an era when the erstwhile stigma of being gay or lesbian has been dramatically rehabilitated, Cruz incorporates her bi-sexual fluidity in her armamentarium of ways to manipulate people, including Willa who, arguably, is the most vulnerable of all the vulnerable characters.

My theory as to why this series was cancelled is that too many viewers did not watch because they were turned off by the unpleasantness of the subject as well as the lack of any truly sympathetic characters. If you think that any character is virtuous, just wait, and you will learn that they have less than admirable qualities.

The series ends on a cliffhanger, but it is an ending that definitively answers most of the major questions, and although it suggests that more would be in store for a continued narrative, I am not disappointed that the story ends there. Rest assured that the Big Bad is dead; long live the (new) Big Bad.

Finally, a mainstream US network series comes close to the excellence of international mystery hits. Reminiscent of Broadchurch and the true-life story depicted in The Imposter, The Family has an excellent atmosphere of tension, alternating between police, victim, and family perspectives to produce a suspenseful and layered story that leaves the viewer confused in a good way, intrigued, and wanting more.

Not a perfect series but a very good one, The Family has a strong cast and an interesting story. Well worth a look for mystery lovers and those who enjoy a well- acted, immersive experience that is far superior to most network television series. Suspect everyone; suspect no one, then suspect everyone again, and enjoy the ride.

For a show of this nature it's vitally important that the characters are believable. Sadly 'The Family' has 2 major flaws from the start which make it difficult to buy into the show as a whole.

Firstly, there is the Character of Nina Meyer which is poorly cast (too young for the role), I simply don't believe the actor in the role. Furthermore, her opening scene, where she berates the family, is nonsense! Secondly, believing that the character of Claire Warren went on to build a successful all teeth & smiles career in politics after the disappearance of her child is a step too far. Once again, it's just too much to buy into.

You need to believe these people from the start & I for one don't.

The cast is excellent, but story is always king & if that has flaws the whole thing comes down.

This recently was on tv, why they advertised it now in 2019 when it was cancelled in 2016 is beyond me!! Can't believe it Watch it all the way to the end of season 1 to only find out it was cancelled!!! THE ENDING???? OMG WHY DO THIS Can't deal, can't believe it

I absolutely LOVE this show. Keeps me on the edge of my seat and all these twists and turns keep me guessing at what's next. Can't even wait for series 2! I was shocked to see some unfavorable reviews, as I see nothing but good characters/acting.Each character plays such an integral part of the show...and they do it well. Haven't seen a show so interesting since Dexter. Just when I think I have things figured out, something else happens to throw me a curve ball. It cannot just end at series 1, episode 12 as that would certainly leave lots up in the air. Series 2 cannot come soon enough. No Rotten Tomatoes on my end..nothing but praise.

The show took a great premise and ruined it by terrible casting and awful writing. First, the show takes place in Maine, which is the whitest state in the nation at 95+ percent and with a sizable population of people of French Canadian ancestry. Yet the main cast is half black and Hispanic and there is not a single person in the show with a French last name. This is completely absurd. Nor does anyone have any kind of Maine accent, not even the older people who get the occasional line, very bizarre for a small Maine town by the coast. There are other bad casting decisions but I won't list them because of spoilers.

There is nobody in the show who is likable in any way, so you won't root for anybody. The twists and turns themselves are so stupid, and the behavior from the supposed professionals (cops, journalists) is so gross you won't understand why they are still involved with the case at all. The constant flashbacks and time jumps are very distracting, and not done in any kind of intriguing manner at all (think "Lost").

Don't waste your time with this - for a much better series with a believable backdrop that won't make you roll your eyes every two minutes, check out the BBC show "The Missing." That one is already filming a second season while "The Family" seems headed for cancellation for good reason.

The story line is enough to want me to watch a new episode, but the show is predictable in some ways and absurd in others. The acting is marginal, except for Andrew McCarthy, who does a good job. I think that some of the writing is in place specifically to trick the viewer, but it's generally too contrived to effectively attain that goal. Several obvious solutions to problems are ignored for the sake of having the characters make the most extreme decisions.

It's a nice show, but it's really helped with an actor like Andrew McCarthy who has a recognizable name. Other than that, it's an interesting idea with mediocre execution. With all that said, it's passable in terms of viewership.

The Family is a 13 episode series that spans a 10 year period to when a young simple minded boy named Adam Warren played by Liam James goes missing while supposedly under the watchful eye of his older sister Willa, played by Allison Pill and big brother Danny, played by Zach Gilford. Ten years have passed and then suddenly Adam re-appears coming out of the woods after escaping from his captor.

The second storyline evolves around the wrongly convicted sex offender Hank, played by rat pack star Andrew McCarthy. With the pilot episode now out of the way we the audience could sit back and criticize what some critics believe to be flaws in the storyline. But why the hate so early? I found the pilot to be very well scripted, strongly cast and OH so intriguing. So many character developments in the first 60 minute episode and I have yet to comment on the inter-relationship between the captive Adam Warren's parents dad John, played by Rupert Graves and mom Claire played by 3 time Oscar nominee Joan Allen. (As a side note, I loved Joan Allen's performance in the 2003 film Off The Map). Now spin forward 10 years to the present time and mom Claire is now the mayor of the city they live in and her ambition is headed towards sitting in the Governor's office. Her husband John is a successful author having released a book How to Survive the Loss of a Loved One. The young officer first assigned to the case Nina Meyer, played by Margot Bingham was instrumental in gaining the conviction of their neighbour Hank played by Andrew McCarthy. Officer Meyer was subsequently promoted to detective and young victim Adam's neighbour poor Hank spent the next 10 years in prison wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit.

There are many more unbelievable (but true) stories than the television series The Family that are much more flawed but are in fact true cases that are well documented. Two true criminal acts that come to mind are the Menendez brothers Lyle and Erik who in 1989 killed their own parents and in 1996, were found responsible for their parents brutal murders in of all places, Beverly Hills California. The most infamous trial on TV was the O. J. Simpson trial and his subsequent exoneration for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. If you believe these stories to be true, which based on the court transcripts they are true, then considering the fate of the current television series The Family, just keep an open mind and you will find the series to be as interesting if not more so since we don't know the outcome of the series yet.

In actual life there are far too many unbelievable stories that have been made into movies that we would love to be able to state that just did not happen, when in fact in real life they did occur. Mrs. Shullivan and I have watched intently the pilot for The Family and cannot wait for the unravelling of the next 12 episodes. I give this series a perfect 10 out of 10 score based on a combination of the great actors performances, and an excellent storyline that will keep the audience intrigued with the twists and turns until the story is eventually unfolded. This is a must watch series that is sure to keep an open minded audience as Mrs. Shullivan and I are wanting more of the same. This is an excellent television series that is sure to win a few Emmys.

A perfect 10 score!

This was definitely my favorite show on the ABC network ever. The story about a son returning home to his family 10 years after his kidnapping has great twists and turns in through out this story that gets you hooked in more and more after every episode. I really hope that it isn't can-celled and comes back for a season 2 so we can see what happened with all of the cliff hangers they left us with at the end of the season 1 finale. The show got better and better throughout the entire season and it would be a tragedy and sad to cancel one of the few good (as well as new) shows on television because of the bad time slot ABC chose to air and place it in. I Give The Family 5 stars or a 10 out of 10 rating.

The writers of this show have seriously neglected one of the cardinal rules of writing a fiction story.

EVERY single character has to have at least one redeeming quality. NOT ONE character here has even a single redeeming character. There is NOTHING here to like. EVERY character can only be disliked or even hated.

I had to quit watching because of this.

As with a prior review, I agree. The actors are either too old or too young to be believable in their roles. The parents don't age, except for the father's graying hair. NOT BELIEVABLE.

I really like this show. I can see what some people are saying though, that the episodes tend to leave you frustrated and thinking that the show is just going to leave these major holes in the plot, but if you stick around for another episode they finally give you a bombshell or another juicy bit if info.

I really believe that if they get a second season they will be able to redeem themselves. It's SO much better than most of the other new crap that is out right now. Plus, one of the characters is played by the daughter of the actor who plays Cyrus in Scandal. AND Andrew McCarthy is a main character too.

I think it would also have a much larger audience if it didn't have to compete with Game of Thrones which airs at the same time.

It's a shame it was cancelled, this was a great show, good acting and storyline.