"Fear Itself" Community (2008)

Director:

Mary Harron

Writers:

Mick Garris (creator)
Kelly Kennemer (written by)

TV Series:

"Fear Itself" (2008)

Original Air Date:

24 July 2008 (Season 1, Episode 7)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Bathtub | Flashlight | Mob | Mask | Communes

Cast

Brandon Routh	...	Bobby
Shiri Appleby	...	Tracy
Barbara Tyson	...	Candace
John Billingsley	...	Phil
Charlie Hofheimer	...	Scott
Brooklyn Sudano	...	Arlene
Peter Strand Rumpel	...	Ron
Tom Carey	...	Simmons
James D. Hopkin	...	Andrew
Meredith Bailey	...	Heather
Alex Fatovich	...	Meryl
Jordan Schartner	...	Ken
Ecko Goffic
Greigh Laschuk		(as Graham Laschuk)
Amelia Rose Kohan

Filming Locations:

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Trouble in Paradise

The series "Fear Itself" continues to improve as it goes along. The "Community" episode is well made and, except for one major flaw, successful.

This is the story of a young couple living in a big city who want to move to the suburbs. They find a development called The Colony: a gated development, it's the kind of Yuppie Hell I couldn't imagine visiting much less living in.

After they move in -the former tenants left the house completely finished- they are happy at first but are frustrated because the wife just can't get pregnant. Everyone around them takes an interest in their efforts to conceive. Too much of an interest.

Too late they find that they've entered a totalitarian paradise.

There are several moments here, especially in a chase scene through pleasant suburban streets on a snowy night, that build real tension. Director Mary Harron, who brought such a sense of style to American PSYCHO, handles things admirably. With the limitations of time and budget that network TV carries she does everything that can be expected. The four act structure with its pattern of rising and falling action is the template for programming: you gotta dance with who brung 'ya. Harron and the story would have been better served on a cable show such as "Masters of Horror" which would have imposed fewer strictures.

The story is built from familiar elements. Many of Bentley Little's novels have worked with similar themes, and there are echoes of THE STEPFORD WIVES, SECONDS, and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS in the story.

The fatal flaw in the equation is leading man Brandon Routh. Playing the lead in the $270 million dollar production SUPERMAN RETURNS hasn't paid off much for him. He has upcoming roles in some independent productions, but this is his first acting job since 2006. His performance here, to put it bluntly, stinks.

Maybe something was off in Harron's direction. But Routh's line readings are just that. Readings. He sounds like someone who doesn't understand English reading aloud a manuscript that is written phonetically.

This would have worked if the character of Bobby had Asperger's Syndrome. But his flat, monotonous line delivery is disastrous. The script doesn't give him all that, true: all we find out about the character is that he's financially well off and loves his wife deeply.

Still, the program has promise. And it's nice to see a network willing to develop something that's not a talent contest, quiz show, or 'reality' program. Keep trying, folks. You're fighting the good fight.