User reviews

I've watched all current seasons of Moonlight, Blood Ties, True Blood, Vampire Diaries & Being Human. If you are a fan of any of these shows you will most likely enjoy 'The Gates'. The first episode sets up the story (which seems a little dull) but progresses quickly as episodes two and three roll along. Hang in there and you might be pleasantly surprised. Viewers who appreciate the 'in your face', slick blood and sexually driven 'True Blood' type of stories may be a bit disappointed here. The tone of this show in comparisons is very light. It focuses more on drama then on suspense, thrills and horror. I'll give you a spoiler free summary of the show if you have not yet watched it. It's a story of an enclosed community (surround by a gate ...surprise!) of super natural beings hiding their real identities from those who are human. Normal stuff (drama) of everyday human life takes place. Work, school, stress, love, hate and romance. The town sheriff (human) helps unravel the story as unexpected events require investigations. Through this slow process the secret identities of the characters are revealed to the viewer. There's much room for development so the possibilities are endless. I hope the writers can take it to the next level.

This show is hit and miss so far for me. The characters and premise have a lot of potential, but some episodes are just boring, and full of somewhat "manufactured" drama. Other episodes are better. The later episodes have been getting better, enough so that I'm sticking with it for now, but, I may give up if we get more dud episodes.

This show has some "soapy" elements. Certain aspects remind me a little bit of Desperate Housewives. But the show also has some more exciting supernatural action to it - it the writers are just trying to figure out the right balance, I guess.

Dylan is the best! And Claire and the chief. The chief's wife is a bit annoying, I feel, and most of the other characters are a bit "meh" so far. So, in short I'm still watching this because I watch too much TV, and I'm enjoying it enough, but I'm not that excited about this show. And if I was ever really busy with something, it would be one of the first casualties of my TV viewing schedule.

Initially I watched the first few episodes, because there was nothing on in the summer months. I quickly got hooked. I think the time slot is perfect in that it follows True Blood and I get a double dose of vamparism on the same night. The show is a supernaturals dream and has everything that deals with the supernatural; Vampires, Wearwolfs,Succubus, and witches. It has the feel of Desperate Houseswives ( Another of my favorite shows) I love the plot twist and the characters are extremely interesting. This show has a lot of room to minipulate its plots and characters without the show ever getting boring and I hope ABC realize what a great hit it has on it's hands and keep it coming.

It was a good concept, supernatural beings living among humans in a gated community but it ends after only one season and so many questions are left unanswered.

When i viewed the 13 episodes of the first season, in a span of two days, i had no idea there wouldn't be a second season. I'm totally baffled over this decision by the ABC executives.

As a fan of the occult and vampires some of the basic elements for good entertainment were there, but The Gates were so much more than another show about bloodsuckers, for the same reasons HBO:s Walking Dead is more than a zombie series.

This quality production had a great storytelling and a marvelous cast that blended harmoniously together. Some classical themes from vampire movies were used but many ideas were also fresh and incorporated in the template for a good drama series. Without giving away any plot-info i simply state the obvious fact that the co-existence of vampires, werewolves, witches and humans in a gated community with all of the problems this could and of course would impose, would it be real, was nothing less than a stroke of geniality from the creators Richard Hatem and Grant Scharbo. The development of the plot is skilfully crafted and as some questions are answered during the final episodes new ones are raised and with the final scene in episode thirteen still in front of my eyes it's more than a bizarre feeling that this episode was also the last one.

To single out one actor wouldn't be fair, but with that said, no fan of this series probably won't deny that Frank Grillo was phenomenal as head of police Nick Monahan or that Rhona Mitras cold elegance served as a perfect contrast to Claires blood cravings.

I simply can't understand why this suspenseful show didn't appeal to an American audience. Maybe the world wasn't ready for another show about vampires, after True Blood aired in 2008, but compared to The Gates that show, though humorous, lacks suspense.

It's my firm belief that had the show aired in Europe, or Sweden for that matter, the success had been total. A Shame, and i hope ABC changes their twisted minds because I want more of this.

This is BS! They suck you into this show, and just leave you hanging at the end of season 1... WTF!? THAN they don't even make a season 2 or 3. TOTAL FREAKING BS! Who ever decided to cancel this show needs a slap in the face for being a D!C#.... GRRRR! If you start something freaking finish it people.

I'm giving this a 4 because it's a great drama, but they never finished it... (>_<)

I mean you can't leave the show ending with so much suspense then just never freaking finish the story... WHO DOES THIS!????

AND F YOU IMDb FOR SAYING MY REVIEW ISN"T FREAKING LONG ENOUGH! GUESS WHAT NEITHER WAS THIS SHOW >_<

I loved the whole show, the dynamics of how wolves, vampires and others tried to live together without killing each other. The coolest part was to put an unknown in and get her to bring them all together. The witch doing things that people knew but could not prove was awesome. I want to know what Charlie is, what was Devon going to use him for besides just getting herself out of the situation she was in. Was Devon "Charlie's Master in a sorts because she brought him back"? Someone needs to pick this up and finish it because it could be a real hit. I know a lot of my friends talked about it so I finally watched it on Netflix and it was awesome. TNT, CW, Spike, USA, any one pick it up and use it and I can bet you will have a lot of followers. People are wanting someone to do something with this show, it was a great starter and we are all on the edge of our seats waiting for someone to do something with it.

The Gates is a great adult soap style series like Desperate Housewives with a twist. If you like supernatural story lines and upscale settings in today's world then this is a great place to spend and hour enjoying a little mystery. Definitely a keeper. Too many peoples expect a big bang on the first few episodes instead of giving characters time to grow and develop relationships within the story. I can see potential for all the characters to grow and give lots of entertainment to all the fans of this genre of show. What is considered original these days? How can any show be condemned as unoriginal when television is bombarded with spin off crime dramas. I think this show has a lot of originality and hopefully will stay around for more seasons to come.

Watching the pilot as I type. First impressions are good. Mysterious gated community. Security...seclusion...vampires.

Has decent character development and conflicts to make you want to watch the next episode and the next and the next. As long as it doesn't turn into a "monster of the week" series, I predict it will have long term success. And it doesn't hurt that it features beautiful women who aren't too overtly sexual.

It reminds you of the Best Stephen King novels and movies.

I find it intriguing even though to supernatural is overt. There seems to be a lot of potential for real dramatic development.

The "big bads" haven't even been revealed (or more than thinly eluded to) and I'm already hooked!!!

Vampires have always had one thing in common, from their darkest days in Romania, to the Meyers chronicles of today: They are what we fear the most--us dead. You can coat them with glitter, you can make a soap opera out of them; but in the end they are us dead. That has to be the main conflict of the story. What makes the Vampire really interesting, to me, is not the Vampire themselves; but the living humans who are forced to deal with the consequences of the living dead among them. A story line, is just a story line after all: 'A police office and his family move into a gated community where many are denizens of the supernatural world'.What the writers do with plot and conflict will make the difference of whether this show is worth the investment of your time. Here Nick, a police officer --with a past-- is conflicted to begin with. Underneith the professional exterior he is driven to make up for sins of his past. It doesn't take long before he is confronted with the fact that he murdered a suspect in cold blood, and due to this, he is forced to make an allegiance with darkness. This, so far, is the main storyline.

There are werewolves teens (for the tween crowd) and there are other fringe supernatural characters (R.H. Macy's always said you must diversify if you are going to succeed at selling anything over a long period of time) even a succubus (perhaps she can eventually find a nice incubus, settle down, and buy a house in "The Gates"). They will, no doubt, be forced to jump the shark eventually, but for now it is great fun.

It is a beautiful cast and I have yet to see an unattractive person walking the streets of "The Gates". It is the Melrose Place of the supernatural. We carry a lot of baggage with us about Vampires and their kin the Werewolves. I like The Hammer Films of the 1950-1970's. I like the Werewolves of "The Howling" or even "American Werewolf in London" best. The egocentric evil of the Vampire or the Jekyll and Hyde conflict of the Werewolf is my genre home, but it is alright to leave the safety of your home and visit someone else's imagination for a spell. In the end, "The Gates" is summer fun and has something for every generation. A distraction from the heat of this summer. I plan to enjoy it for what it is.....

What is it with the vampire bandwagon that just about every TV networks are jumping on these days? Give it up all ready I'm sick and tired of watching leeches almost every day of the week while great ORIGINAL shows like Legend of the Seeker, Happy Town and some get canceled immediately after airing 4 or 5 episodes. First came reality shows then talent shows, Prime time cartoons and now the in thing to do is Vampires Bram Stoker must be rolling around in his grave right now with all the vampire crap that's on right now.

The first comment from "it's sick" hit the nail on the head with is comments when he said bad acting. He at least watched it all, I myself changed the channel after the first bite. Heed the first writers warning stop watch so that the network can put on something ORIGINAL on. I think I'll start watching reruns of Cricket matches I might start making myself like it better than the trash that's on now

Originality is not a must when looking to create viewers interest. True Blood wasn't very original and yet it did a great all around job. When you don't have an original idea, everything else gets a lot harder. Without originality you do need the best actors, directors, dialog writers and even good editors. It seemed to me and to my beloved wife that "The gates" cut corners in every department. We had shivers watching badly written scenes performed by unconvincing actors, when even the lighting, music and camera angels were clichés to seal the deal. Don't watch this show if you value your free time. There are just so many better shows out there, go for one that will have at least one good thing about it. This show does not.

Itsik

This show is another in a long line of media taking advantage of the vampire craze created by Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga. While Twilight has satisfied it's own niche of light, early teen romances about supernatural beings, the idea of vampires and other demihumans has now become synonymous with perpetuating Joss Whedon's high school super hero take-off of a classic one-off movie from the late 80s, early 90s. Vampires have become weak with moral dilemmas about something as simple as feeding, turning into pretty heroin addict tweakers and although most are hundreds of years old, they either don't know how to properly control their hunger so their food doesn't lead to deaths and/or can't get their feelings for someone under control. Not to mention they push around humans with their powers like it somehow makes them big and tough. It always makes them feel vindicated and confident, when it should make them feel like housepets, pushing their nibblets around while fancying themselves hunters.

Vampire Diaries is, at least, based on a series of books and although I've also found that to be as weak as The Gates, at least some thought has gone into the plot. The Gates has taken factors that work for a lot of other shows, crammed them together, and made one show. When Port Charles, a short-lived daytime soap, tried to incorporate vampires and angels into their plots, it got canned really fast.

If you want to read about vampires fighting creatures of their own caliber, like elves, demons, pixies, dwarfs, dragons and more, while fending off humans that have the firepower and resources to give the vampires at least a run for their money, check out The Demihuman Archives, by Marc Mattaliano. Email me for more details.

Yesterday when I got home I saw an announcement about "The Gates". I had no idea of what it was and waited for the show to start with an open mind. As it started I wasn't really sure I was going to like because of all that vampire fever that's going around. The show just went on that one road that I really like and really surprised me with all the variety of content in just that place. I got hooked to it in the first episode and only saw 4 of them until now. I just hope that this show isn't cancelled because when I really like a show they usually go on the one road... dead end! I just think that people nowadays just watch things with already made role models in their heads and so when something is really good, but not their way, they just say it's like this and like that and appoint to all the stuff they can to put the series down. I don't think people should be like this because mainstream is already full of crap. Just give the different stuff a chance, we may be all equal but our tastes are not that way.