New ABC series pulls from ‘Desperate Housewives’ drama
Mystery. Sex. Scandal. Vanessa Williams.
If that’s what you’re looking for in a television show, ABC’s new drama “666 Park Avenue” has it all.
While on the surface it may seem like ABC is trying to take a hint from the success of AMC’s mini series drama “American Horror Story,” “666 Park Avenue” is not created in the same vein. The show is loosely based off a novel of the same name and plays out more like a mystery than a Quentin Tarantino film, with a little bit of “Desperate Housewives” drama thrown into the mix.
The show opens with a symphony performance that is greeted with thundering applause and standing ovations. The action then cuts away to the conductor rapidly packing up his belongings and being pulled out a window by a mysterious spirit or force.
The plot then focuses on the main characters, Henry Martin (Dave Annable, who played Justin Walker on “Brothers & Sisters”) and Jane Van Veen (Rachel Taylor, known for her roles as Dr. Lucy Fields on “Grey’s Anatomy” and Abby Sampson on 2011’s short-lived “Charlie’s Angels” reboot).
The two play an unmarried couple who move into New York’s posh Drake hotel as the building’s new resident managers. The job comes complete with living arrangements in a spacious penthouse, an offer that leaves the pair wondering why anyone would give up the job and leave the hotel.
The audience later discovers that evil is at work here. The Drake was once a psych ward and the current residents of the building have all made deals with the devil to have their desires fulfilled.
Williams plays Olivia Doran, one of the building’s owners, and brings to her character the same devious attitude she embodied in past roles like “Ugly Betty’s” Wilhelmina Slater and the witch in Broadway’s “Into the Woods.”
Terry O’Quinn (John Locke on “Lost”) plays Gavin Doran, Olivia’s husband and co-owner of The Drake. O’Quinn’s character is cunning and peculiar, and it’s hard to tell if he’s a good guy or a bad guy.
With the eerie orchestral score of a horror movie and half a dozen cutaway shots that leave viewers wanting to know more, the new show raises the stakes for television drama. The actors will have to prove themselves, though, as their performances aren’t as magnetizing as the plot is.
Some of the special effects seem low-budget, such as people being “sucked out” of windows and blood oozing out of wounds, so the production team needs to work to make them more believable.
The first episode reveals many starts but the way the plots will turn out is very open-ended. The intentions of several characters are unclear, which is a sure way to get viewers to tune in for the next episode.
“666 Park Avenue” airs right after “Revenge,” a smart pairing for the network as the shows have the same dramatic format and cliff-hanger endings at the end of every episode.
While “666 Park Avenue” may not measure up to blockbuster horror films, its plot will keep the audience coming back for more.