Resurrection: Two Rivers review

I’ve loosely compared Resurrection to Lost in past reviews, and besides being a one-word titled show (ABC is the leader in one-word title programming), the two series share the distinction of moving quite slowly in their first season, and letting the questions start to overflow. At least that’s where we’re at right now with Resurrection: plenty of questions, but no real theories as to how this is all happening. There’s even a line of dialogue between Bellamy and Maggie saying the same. Jacob’s exhumed tomb just continues to stir the pot. Is the river a connection? Are these really just elaborate doppelgangers like Frank would like to believe? Should people be afraid like the congregation at Tom’s church? Judging by the continuing shady antics of Caleb, I’d say so.

Through some investigation by Bellamy and Maggie, we discover that Caleb Richards’ return isn’t the most suspect thing he’s done. It turns out that just days before his death, Caleb robbed a bank, the very same bank that his daughter just became the manager of. Highly convenient timing. Bellamy and Maggie even come across the holes Caleb has been digging, but besides the new insight, these scenes really work due to Omar Epps and Devin Kelly. The pair has genuine chemistry and their flirtation through the mystery has been performed subtly, but effectively. Usually a romantic subplot would unhinge a show like this, but the pair makes it work.

Francis Fisher and Kurtwood Smith are another dynamic duo, playing Jacob’s parents Henry and Lucile Langston. In the a late scene in the episode, Smith gives a heartbreaking monologue to his wife about why he just cant seem to accept “the new Jacob,” perfectly conveying the anguish of a grieving parent. When Henry blames his wife for being too accepting, of betraying her original son, the look of pain and anger on her face is utterly convincing. Watching the two parents come to grips in their own way has supplied most of the drama on the show, and though it isn’t high octane, the performances are commendable.

I wish I could say the same of Matt Craven, who plays Jacob’s sheriff uncle Frank. Frank is struggling to come to grips with his wife’s infidelity and the return of his dead nephew, but his one note anger is becoming tiresome. Worse than that, Frank gives an awkward heart to heart monologue at a bar where his wife’s lover sits listening, but the scene is almost laughably bad, in part because of Craven’s stagnant delivery of his lines.

Towards the end of the episode, we discover exactly who the man Caleb threatened last week with the hammer, and the state we discover him in isn’t great. Agent Bellamy goes to speak with Dale Getheard, the last man who saw Caleb Richards alive, but discovers a bloody mess and a dead Getheard in his home. Now with a murder on his hands, Agent Bellamy seems to have something to really sink his teeth into, but with a real crime taking place, wouldn’t this case be covered by a higher government agency? With all the mysterious circumstances, the dead returning, you would think someone higher than a desk jockey would be plunging into this case.

The big cliffhanger comes at the end of final moments of this week’s episode, where Tom spots a small trail of blood after finding a broken window, clearly the sign of a break in, at the church. He follows the trail to find a woman sitting in the pews, who explains that she had nowhere else to go and noticed Tom’s name on the sign. She then asks Tom if she really died, and a shocked Tom proclaims, “Rachel?” It seems like we have another returned person on or hands, and another with connections to Tom. Is he involved in all of this somehow?

Tonight’s episode was advertised as shocking and full of action, but it pretty much kept the same pacing as the other episodes. Is it entertaining? Yes, but only mildly so far. I’m waiting for more to be unearthed.

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