What’s the name of this show? American Gothic
When does it premiere? Wednesday 22 June at 10pm ET on CBS.
Does this have anything to do with the painting? No, not at all.
Wait, wasn’t this a show already? There was a 1995 TV series created by Shaun Cassidy and Sam Raimi, but this is unrelated to that.
So what is this show about? When the ceiling of a tunnel from Boston’s “Big Dig” collapses, it reveals a murder weapon used by a serial killer in Beantown who gave up his murder spree 14 years ago. Because it was in the concrete at the site the family that owned, the concrete company is implicated in wrongdoing.
Who do you think is the serial killer? Well, it could be the family patriarch Mitch, who has a heart attack in the first episode. That seems like the easiest explanation so it’s probably not the case. It certainly is not Garrett (Antony Starr), the estranged son who arrives from living in the wilderness in Maine after 14 years to see his ailing father. It’s also certainly not Tessa (Megan Ketch), the youngest daughter and center of the story that is married to Brady (Elliot Knight), a cop who is investigating the serial killer. It’s also unlikely that it’s secretive and steely mom Madeline (Virginia Madsen), but she’s definitely hiding some other secrets.
If I were a betting man I would place money on the killer being either son Cam (Justin Chatwin), a creepy cartoonist who has an even creepier kid and is a recovering drug addict. (Which drug? It doesn’t matter. He just seems to like all of them.) Don’t rule out political daughter Alison (Juliet Rylance), who is running for mayor of Boston and doesn’t seem as content with her cookie-cutter life as she lets on.
Why must it be one of those two? Have you never watched an episode of Law & Order? The killer is never the first person they arrest, just like it’s never the most obvious suspects or the person who is ostensibly the good guy. There’s always a big twist so that it’s someone we never would have expected committing the crimes for reasons that are not quite what they seem. This is nothing if not a very standard and quite bland murder mystery. That means you have to look for the unlikely suspects if you really want to find the true killer.
What’s wrong with it? It’s very much out of the network television mold where we spend enough time with a family (all of whom live in one giant house like exactly zero American families), and eventually we find out all the dirty things they’ve been keeping from each other. For recent examples, look at The Family and Secrets and Lies, both as uninspired as this one. The show is called American Gothic, but it has no mood or tone at all. It is just blandly competent network drama meant to offend no one and will inspire just as many people. Where is the darkness and dread? Where is the brooding and blood? It’s apparently in an incarnation of this show that is decidedly better.
Who created the show? Corinne Brinkerhoff, a veteran of The Good Wife, Elementary and Jane the Virgin, created it along with James Frey.
You mean the guy that Oprah yelled at for making up parts of his book A Million Little Pieces? The very same.
Is there anything good about the show? The cast is top-notch, especially Madsen who balances calm betrayal with a maternal instinct and Rylance, who is so great on The Knick, playing another ambitious woman who is willing to make sacrifices to get what she wants. She is totally going to end up being the killer.
Cam’s son and Alison’s twin daughters are all weirdos, so it’s nice to see some tykes on network TV that aren’t overly precious or mugging for the camera.
Should I watch this show? Murder, She Wrote is still streaming on Netflix. If you really need a mystery at least Jessica Fletcher has some panache.
