The Shorter Way

So I checked out the first episode of AMC's "NOS4A2" last night, after the ubiquitous ads successfully piqued my interest. (I frequently get turned off to shows or movies when they're overexposed by a bombardment of marketing, and resolve not to watch them out of spite. Seriously. But "NOS4A2's" creepy trappings and the promise of Zachary Quinto as a child-abducting vampire were enough to get me to sit down with the first episode.)

This was decent! I'd rate it an 8 out of 10. The writing, directing and acting were all quite good, the protagonist's troubled family drama was a lot more compelling than I expected, and this looks like a horror-fantasy series with some creative stuff going on. I had a little trouble buying the 26-year-old Ashleigh Cummings as a high school student, but she's great in the role. And Quinto chews the scenery just fine as the vampire who apparently feeds off of the life force of the kidnapped children while they sleep. (The character become more interesting when he grows younger - and the talented Quinto then infuses his interpretation with a manic, evil energy.)

The jury is still out with me, however, on this show's horror elements. They're creatively conceived, but they might be a bit too campy and stylized for me. (You know what I mean if you've seen the ads.) "NOS4A2" was adapted from an immensely successful 2013 young adult novel by Joe Hill, and I suspect that the fantasy elements here are exactly what made the book appeal to fans of the YA genre. It remains to be seen whether they'll be too corny for more mainstream fans.

I've only seen episode 1, but this has a Stephen King feel to it. It might have something to do with the location in Massachusetts. So far, this is pretty good. I like the supernatural feel and storielines. It feels like something you'd watch at night in a dark room.

It's slow pacing made it very easily to get distracted from. This is not good for the casual viewer. Also, imagine not even being a King fan, this was borderline boring with seemingly interesting promises to be developed later on. 6/10 at best, and has a hard work to deliver a satisfactory run if all episodes turn out to be like this.

NOS4A2

1.01 (2.5 out of 5 stars).

The episode pilot may not be the best or strong start of a series. The concept is pretty creepy and scary. With an immortal being played by Zachary Quinto's character that lures children into another dimension called Christmasland. Were every day is Christmas and unhappiness is illegal. The opening intro was dark and creepy. From there on out. Meeting the main character Vic McQueen and her dealing with her mother and father struggling marriage. And her mother trying to shut her future down from going to college. She begins to have visions and can travel through a bridge that was destroyed. It goes on to build her character. It is a very slow moving episode and uninteresting. It is hard to get into the series with this episode. The characters are dull and boring. Nothing really happens to get the story progressing besides a child is missing. And there are people with abilities.

It is just a boring introduction to a good concept series.

As far as premiere episodes go, the show did what it needed to do. They hooked me; I found the general concept interesting and when it was over I was left with questions. Mainly with how the bridge worked and what is happening to the children. The characters so far haven't peaked my interest but I'll wait to see how the main characters interact with one another. On the technical side there were some editing hiccups and our female leads knowledge of the bridge doesnt add up. Other than those problems I enjoyed the episode.

I'd go 8/10 on this one.