Fox could not have had worse timing for the mid-season launch of Bryan Fuller and Todd Holland's excellent new series Wonderfalls. While the show is imaginative, well-written, and well-acted, comparisons to one of this season's most popular new shows, CBS's Joan of Arcadia are inevitable. Despite the similarities in the underlying premise of the shows, they could not be more different in style and theme. Whereas Joan superimposes a Joan of Arc motif on a typical, saccharine-filled drama, Wonderfalls features severe familial dysfunction, several characters of questionable mental health, and biting cynicism.
The core of the show is actress Caroline Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler, a 20-something clerk in a Niagara Falls souvenir shop. In a family of A-types, she's an introvert, not really all that happy with her life, but not willing to muster the gumption to do anything about it. Dhavernas manages to bring a unique quality to a role that could have easily fallen back into more familiar territory. The inner conflict she suffers throughout the first episode is written all over her face, but she never lapses into sentimentality.
The supporting cast, consisting of Jaye's family and few friends, is excellent as well. A stand-out in the premiere is Katie Finneran as Jaye's sister Sharon, a lawyer who in this episode has what can only be described as one of the most unique coming-out scenes in recent memory. Finneran, as well as William Sadler and Diana Scarwid as Jaye's parents, paint a gloomy portrait of a family only going through the motions of caring, more for show than for any actual concern.
The inciting incident in tonight's show sets the pattern we can expect future episodes to follow. During a run-in with a particularly difficult customer, a wax lion begins talking to Jaye. Reluctantly following the lion's instructions sets off a chain of events that end in refreshingly unexpected consequences. While the plot nearly veers into a valley of cliche, several well-timed plot twists deliver an inventive and satisfying ending.
Next week's teaser promises more of the same quirky humor and clever writing. It's obviously early to issue a final verdict, but Wonderfalls has started off on the right note.
Article comments