Haunted

Haunted was killed before it had the chance to really breathe. Now it wanders the dark hallways of cancelled TV show obscurity hell.

Most people have barely heard of it. In a way it's kind of cool because for those small few of us that do discover it will get to indulge in something so lost and forgotten it seems like you're the only one to have ever watched it. It just misses attaining the status of a "cult" TV show. Personally, I quite like that fact. It's a cult-cult kind of deal. A bit like for those people who remember Michael Mann's Robbery Homicide Division's short lived run. Shows that have great potential and a strong handful of episodes to advertise that fact but lack the buzz and word of mouth to continue their evolutions into bigger, more popular dramas.

In this day and age where detective series are still often successful with audiences, it seems a shame that no one gave Haunted its due diligence. It is evident from the existing episodes that it would have developed into an effective spook-tacular series that could have run for at least three seasons.

Atmospheric visuals and good story lines combined to create a genre based mystery of the week potboiler with a great central lead performance by Lost's Matthew Fox. His emotional investment and range as an actor keeps the whole thing together, especially in the poorer episodes.

If you are lucky enough to find this show available anywhere then there seems to be much difficulty in figuring out the real episode order that they were intended to flow in. I would suggest watching it like this -

1. Pilot (which I call "Simon Says.) 2. Fidelity 3. Grievous Angels 4. Blind Witness 5. Last Call 6. Nocturne 7. Seeking Asylum 8. Three Hour Tour 9. Simon Redux 10. Nexus

I have discounted one - the episode entitled "Abby" because it is so bad I would recommend ignoring it all together. It may put you off the rest of the episodes.

Also worth noting is that the episode that I have placed last called Nexus is really a "flashback episode" set a couple of weeks after the events of the Pilot episode. The reason for it going last is because it is the only episode out of all of them that gives any sense of closure to the story. Ironic considering the events it depicts are all set BEFORE the other episodes, but the final scene in it seems like a good place to leave the character of Frank and the over all story arc of the show. It says to us that he will control and eventually conquer his "demons," and that's about as conclusive as you're gonna get.

Haunted had potential to be as good as a similar show like Millennium and certainly would have marked an interesting journey for Fox's tortured soul Frank for us to follow.

If you can find it, watch it and wonder what could have been. If you stick to the order I suggested, it will provide the most satisfying conclusion possible for a cancelled show.

It's worth tracking down. Consider it's current status as "MISSING - PRESUMED DEAD." Let's hope it'll get a resurrection one day on DVD.

I'm impressed with the richness of the show "Haunted". It's creepy, tenebrous, and dramatic. The season premiere was good enough to hold my attention all the way through, and that is something not easily done with dark drama. The subject matter is so dark in fact, that I don't see this show drawing a sizeable crowd. Just what sort of demographic are they going for here? Personally, I'm not sure if I can take this every week.

Haunted was one of the most intense television series ever produced. The script was well written and the cinematography complemented the dark, mysterious story lines. Matthew Fox brought intensity and multi-dimensionality to his character. Although already established from the series, Party of Five, this role convinced me that Matthew Fox was (and still is) one of the best young actors on the scene today. He is also proving his talent on the hit show Lost. It's too bad Haunted didn't last longer. The Ghost Whisperer had a similar theme and seemed to last much longer (and coincidentally also used a character from Party of Five, Jennifer Love Hewitt); however, I think Haunted was a much better show.

When I first saw the promos for this show, they really made me want to watch it, but what I tend to find is that most of these shows don't live up to the hype at all. This IS NOT the case for Haunted. The writing is impeccable, the acting incredible and the music (composed by Mark Snow) is eerily haunting and fitting for each scene. It keep you on the edge of your seat and wondering what's going to happen next. I think that this is one of the best new shows of 2002 and if you are (or were)into shows like The X Files, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, CSI, Strange World, VR5, Twilight Zone or Prey, this show is for you. Even if you aren't though, you should give it a try.

I only saw a couple of episodes and was VERY disappointed to see it cancelled. Man, that sucked! I hope it comes out on DVD soon; this was probably the only show I wanted to try and see if I could work on an episode, it was THAT cool!