Hidden Palms

Hidden Palms had potential as a murder mystery teen drama. The writing is surprisingly solid and the whole cast does a great job. Fans of both The OC and Veronica Mars will notice familiar faces and appreciate the concept.

Sadly it had the misfortune of airing right after The OC ended which coincidentally also starred Taylor Handley as well in its first season. So people were a bit burned out on the "outsider/loner in a new zipcode" premise which is why the ratings were low resulting in HP's cancelation.

But Palm Springs provides a very interesting backdrop to watch the story unfold. All 8 eps of S1 are currently on YouTube for free. Worth a watch.

This show would have been better if everyone didn't talk the same. Do people really talk like this? Every single character has that snarky, sarcastic comeback that is prevalent in TV nowadays. I'd blame some of this on the acting but I cannot fault the actors for delivering such cack dialogue.

Having been someone who has moved on several occasions, I just don't see a 16 year old boy, a year removed from seeing his father commit suicide, spend time in rehab for alcoholism (a plot point that disappeared by season's end), walking outside his house and freely introducing himself to the neighborhood.

They spend so much time complaining about the heat but they wear dark colors, long sleeved shirts, double layered clothing, hoodies, etc. in the middle of summer in the California desert.

A great concept that has been poorly executed.

Taylor Handley is cute, and a pretty good young actor. I have seen him in movies. So I gave this new series a try. He is a great lead here in a night time soap set in Palm Springs. Handley has a natural acting ability, and he should not be judged solely on his pin-up good looks.m He is actually talented.

The supporting cast is not bad either. The story lines are interesting and addictive. Without giving away spoilers, I just wanna suggest you give this new series a try. Nice looking cast. Slick production and editing. And great location shoots. I hope CW picks this excellent new show up for a 2nd season in the fall. And, Taylor Handley is pretty hot!

Johnny Miller (Taylor Handley) moves into Palm Springs, California. He hates his mother Karen (Gail O'Grady) and her new husband Bob Hardy (D.W. Moffett) after his father's suicide a year ago. He's a recovering alcoholic with Jesse Jo (Leslie Jordan) as his new AA sponsor. His science nerd neighbor Liza Witter (Ellary Porterfield) is an admirer from afar. He falls for the enigmatic Greta Matthews (Amber Heard). Cliff Wiatt (Michael Cassidy) is his next door neighbor who claims to be a friend to the previous occupant Eddie who committed suicide in his room. Tess Wiatt (Sharon Lawrence) is Cliff's outrageous mother. Nikki Barnes (Tessa Thompson) is the last new kid in the upper class oasis community who also has an alcohol problem. Johnny starts getting IMs from a person claiming to be Eddie.

Kevin Williamson returned to TV after 'Dawson's Creek' but he lost that teenage connection temporarily. He tried to tap into his love of murder and mayhem but he needed to show Eddie's death in the first episode. If the pilot showed Eddie's murder and a cover-up, then it would have hooked the audience on a murder mystery right away. Of course, the most photogenic of this beautiful group is Amber Heard. I was actually more interested in Liza but she turns into a secondary character for episodes 2 and 3. It was perplexing at the time to introduce a main character in the pilot and then sideline her. Williamson tried to make O.C. with a mystery but I was never invested in the mystery and the teens are much less likable.

I recently discovered Hidden Palms and I instantly have become enthralled. Don't be fooled by the cheesy romance and sometimes cringey acting, because beneath the guise of a cliche teen drama show is a beautifully written and engaging plot that instantly hooks you. Kevin Williamson is quite an esteemed writer, and his effort shows here. Honestly, I don't really think the show needs any more episodes. It is a great story within 8 episodes, that didn't have to suffer through extensive and tiresome sequels or subsequent seasons like many other CW shows. (The newer 90210 series is a good example) This show deserves some recognition however, for the story and the characters are more 3-dimensional rather than cliche. Michael Cassidy's performance as Cliff is pure gold, and he is easily the most interesting character in the show. Valerie Cruz's performance as Maria Nolan and Tessa Thompson's performance as Nikki Barnes are also worth noting. Overall, a great show with perfect pacing, plot, characters, and light humor. While some scenes such as the drag queen show are at times cringe to watch, it is a great show that deserves some appreciation. It also needs to find an outlet or platform to be found on. Your only options to watch the show are either on Youtube (often taken down due to copyright infringement) or a foreign dvd release that may not even work with standard US dvd players. I understand that it was once on netflix, so I am urging the CW to find a good place to allow people to view it. Possibly on CW seed or the CW app for mobile devices?