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"American Gothic" is, and will continue to be, one of the best shows to ever grace television screens. Unfortunately, CBS chief Les Moonves hated it, aired episodes out of order, four episodes never even aired at all, and the length of time that passed between the airing of each new episode were weeks at a time. CBS constantly tinkered with the production and it was obvious. But for those of us who did watch it and stuck with it, we were treated to some of the best stories and most engaging characters in television history.
The production values were outstanding and the special effects were shockingly good for a network show.
The series centered around the inhabitants of a town called Trinity. The sheriff, Lucas Buck (Gary Cole), just may be the devil himself. The series opened with Buck murdering little Caleb Temple's sister Merlyn (by snapping her neck) and Caleb's father (by stabbing him in the throat with a pen). Caleb's mother supposedly had committed suicide when he was a baby, so he finds himself orphaned. Unfortunately for him, we come to find out that Sheriff Buck had raped Caleb's mother and Caleb is, in fact, his son. Meanwhile, Caleb's cousin Gail (Paige Turco), a journalist, sees the murders on the news and high-tails it out to Trinity to look after her little cousin...and to investigate Sheriff Buck's role in the deaths of her own parents. Caleb is taken to the local hospital where he is quickly taken under the wing of Dr. Matt Crower (Jake Weber), a Yankee who accidentally killed his wife and daughter while driving drunk. Adding even more to the pot is Caleb's sister Merlyn (Sarah Paulson), who appears as an angel to protect Caleb from the evil Buck, and Selena Coombs (Brenda Bakke), Caleb's schoolteacher who is having a torrid affair with Sheriff Buck.
This was one entertaining and intelligent show. The tone was pitch black and the atmosphere of it all was unnerving. There was tension in every scene and the writing was phenomenal. If any show epitomizes the term "cult show," it's most definitely this one. It only aired for one season and, almost ten years later, fans are still raving about it.
I've always suspected that the reason it didn't last any longer than it did is because it was so dark and twisted. "Potato Boy," an episode that never aired on CBS, was probably shelved because it would have been quite controversial in '95. In it, the local priest is seen shooting up more than once, a psychiatrist is outed for being a pedophile, religious imagery is seen heavily throughout, a woman is scorned by the church for being a whore, and there is an almost Lolita-ish subtext to what happens between Selena and Caleb. As you can probably tell, the show was an acquired taste.
I absolutely adored it for the first 16 episodes, but I really disliked the direction the show went into for the last six episodes. For some reason, CBS saw fit to fire Jake Weber and ship his character off to an insane asylum. I was infuriated, as many fans were. To me, the almost father/son relationship between Dr. Matt and Caleb was the heart of the show. Dr. Matt was the one person who stood between Buck grabbing hold of Caleb, so when they took him away, the entire dynamic of the show changed and it wasn't for the better. Jake Weber as Dr. Matt was nothing short of brilliant and his presence was GREATLY missed. It didn't help that they replaced him with John Mese as Billy Peale, a character that was poorly written and an actor who was as interesting as wet crackers. On the flip side, however, we got to see Jake Weber flex his acting muscle during his last couple of episodes and it gave him the perfect vehicle to show what a great actor he is.
"American Gothic" is a classic. It desperately needs the DVD treatment, especially now that Sam Raimi has so much clout in Hollywood these days. In the meantime, buy the bootleg DVDs off of eBay, which contain the four episodes that never aired. Enjoy the first 16 episodes, but expect to be disappointed with the last few!
score /10
dissention1 6 December 2004
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0973282/ |
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9-10-2020 14:21:04