TV Jots

One Murder Mystery Coming Up

Now that the rookie procedural Eleventh Hour has finished its first season, CBS has a new series coming up next Thursday in the post-CSI time slot called Harper’s Island. A closed-ended drama in the form of a murder mystery, the show has three things going for it that I like.

But first, what’s it about? The 13 episodes in Harper’s Island freshman run follow a group of family and friends who travel to a remote island off the coast of Seattle for a week-long wedding celebration. Henry Dunn (Ugly Betty‘s Christopher Gorham) is marrying his wealthy fiancée Trish Wellington (Katie Cassidy of Supernatural), but unfortunately, the guests start getting killed one by one.

Viewers are challenged to try to figure out who is offing the characters as another dies each week. Closure will come at the end of the season on July 2, however, when the murderer is finally revealed.

So, what are those three things that work in Harper’s Island favor, from my vantage point?

Did I Mention It’s a Mystery?

I can watch a suspenseful, thought-provoking TV show any day, as my love of plot-centric British detective series like Helen Mirren’s Prime Suspect demonstrates. If Harper’s Island show runners manage to present the audience with genuinely puzzling and intriguing storylines during each episode, I’ll be happy. The most important thing is the plot twists and reveals have to be chilling and impossible to predict. Otherwise, the show will be just another atmospheric yet pretentious and boring throwaway.

Did I Mention It’s Closed-Ended?

Harper’s Island promises 13 weeks, 25 suspects, and 1 killer. Viewers know in advance, then, that we’ll learn exactly who committed the homicides at the end of the season. It doesn’t get much simpler than that … unless you guess the guilty party’s identity beforehand because of weak plotting, awful acting, or transparent casting. Incidentally, if Harper’s Island is picked up for a second season, the cast, location, and central mystery will change.

Did I Mention It Stars Christopher Gorham?

People mention Ugly Betty first, and sometimes Felicity or Popular, when they talk about Gorham’s work, but he’s appeared in a couple of short-lived TV shows that I identify him with more because they happen to be in one of my preferred entertainment genres, science fiction. For instance, Gorham had a lead role, alongside RoboCop‘s Peter Weller, in the 2002 Canadian series Odyssey 5, which ran for 14 of its 20 episodes on Showtime. And the year afterwards, there was the UPN series Jake 2.0, which lasted for 12 of 16 total episodes before the ax came chopping down. Despite his spotty track record, I always enjoy Gorham’s roles.

Continue below to go behind the scenes of Harper’s Island with executive producer and director Jon Turteltaub in two clips. The series’ premise had me at “murder mystery,” so it’s up to the show not to disappoint.