Bellevue

Was bored looking for something to watch and discovered this. Clever dark unassuming series that makes you think what's going on. Slow in build up but very unique in the way it just twists ....

Great watch

Just finished the first season (will there be more?) and I LOVED it. At times some of the characters were confusing and seemed of little consequence to the finale and the whole story, but if you had patience, enjoyed the mystery and creepy feeling of the setting, for me, the ending was great. Fantastic. And nothing I saw coming. An extra point for that. Unfortunately I will admit again that some characters who seemed insignificant were very significant in the end, the tale that needed telling and the old murder that was solved, so I understand that some viewers were frustrated. Overall I found the major players diverse enough in personality that it kept me glued for the whole season. Every time I see Anna Paquin I still think of "The Piano," despite how long ago that film came out. All grown up, I still see that little girl's face. I have to give this show 8/10 stars. It kept me stuck on CBC after Murdoch, and that's impressive.

I don't really understand why it has a 6.7 from 94 people, didn't anybody watch this show and just some haters gave it a low rating? It had only one episode yet, those reviews are also the reason for my review.

From the other reviews I expected the show to start really slow or with bad actors, but everything is good enough for a TV show and the story is not so different from the very good first season of True Detective.

I'm only bothered by some little things like why would you go in there alone in the dark, you know what I mean, but the story makes up for that, a lot happens and it's not slow at all. I would maybe give it a 7.5 but I'll round it up to 8, because I truly am curious about the next episode.

I really enjoyed this story in spite of all the unexpected twists and turns. Complicated, weird and even gory at times, but with so many deeply-felt emotions and a real understanding of family relationships (somewhat extreme and perverted here). The setting is wonderfully eerie too with the mine and the woods, the darkness and the snow at the end. The acting is wonderful. I had only seen Anna Paquin in the film "the Piano", and she has retained the passionate intensity of that little girl. Allen Leech is very moving in all his clumsy warmth.I didn't know any of the Canadian actors, but I found their portrayal of these troubled characters very believable. The young girl who plays Daisy is so cute and vibrant she manages to lighten up the dark mood. So much better than many popular shows, it is complex and moving!

I awaited the first episode with high hopes after seeing Paquin knock it out of the park in True Blood, but was very disappointed to say the least. "Annie Ryder" plays just like "Sookie Stackhouse" on a bad day, minus the southern accent. Same facial expressions and body language, same use of words, vocal tones and speech pauses. It doesn't look like Paquin has a real handle on the character, or that she put a lot of effort into really finding that character in herself.

The writing and the other actors (except for Shawn Doyle) did not impress either. The characters feel wooden, the dialogue doesn't flow and it seems like the writers tried to cram way too much plot background and backstory into the first episode. None the characters appears to actually care about any of the other characters, except, again, for Doyle's character Peter Welland.

And for what it's worth, while I had read that the creators found the giant slag heaps at the filming location picturesque and beautiful, all I could think about when they came into view was that some mining company should be sued for creating such a hideous mess of the landscape.

All in all, not one of CBC's finer efforts so far. I'll watch a few more episodes to see how it goes, but my expectations have now hit bottom.