In the pilot episode of Hidden Palms, Cliff, the poor man's Logan Echolls, tells newcomer Johnny Miller (Taylor Handley) than Palm Springs is a place where, "people come to die." One could say that The CW is where shows not featuring Tyra Banks or Superman come to die. In the wake (pun intended) of Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, and 7th Heaven, The CW's new summer soap features Pretty People in Angst. Our nominal protagonist deals with grief by taking photographs, his nominal love interest deals with grief by running through sprinklers, and Cliff ... well, Cliff kicks puppies. Just like in real life, everybody in Hidden Palms deals with grief in their own particular way.

Here, however, the veracity ends, replaced instead by corny dialogue, caricatures instead of characters and an opening credit sequence that makes wind power seem like the most insidious thing on the planet. With the basic world of Hidden Palms established in the pilot, this week's episode sought to introduce the central mystery of the show: "Who is 08Nova?" The show's aiming for a mystery along the lines of "Who killed Laura Palmer?" but I fear it will end up akin to "Who Let The Dogs Out?" instead.

This name of this week's episode, "Ghosts" derives itself from the figurative and, in one case, literal things that haunt our characters. Johnny's mother Karen is haunted by her guilt over Johnny's breakdown. Greta and Cliff are haunted by what happened to Eddie. In fact, the appeal of Johnny's sobriety to Greta may in fact be fueled by the as-yet-unnamed incident involving Greta, Cliff, and Eddie. I will give props to Hidden Palms for positively portraying sobriety, even if it did so quite ham-fistedly.  Sobriety = cool, Nikki going around and Lohan-ing up the joint = bad. Got it. That's one to grow on, y'all.

Johnny, for his part, seems to be actually haunted by Eddie himself. At least, that's what the boy behind the mask would have Johnny believe. The two rooms are meant to look identitical, structurally, which potentially begs the question not only where is 08Nova, but even when is 08Nova? 

The answers to these questions, naturally, are a little hard to come by this early in the show's run. Up until the final moments of this episode, nothing in the world of Hidden Palms indicated anything supernatural. Noirish? Certainly. But the world seemed fairly confined to the "real" world up until that moment.  There may be indeed a logical explanation for why a supposedly dead teenager has omniscient knowledge of Johnny's proximity to his computer, but for now, the realm of the supernatural is in play in the show.

There was one other mystery in tonight's episode that piqued my interest as well, surrounding Johnny's stepfather Bob. I rather loathed his character in the pilot episode, in which I likened him in my mind to Bruce Campbell's less interesting cousin. But I wondered tonight if that blandness is in fact purposeful.  Is Bob actually hiding something? I could be looking for things that aren't there, perhaps in a desperate attempt to ignore the five or six minutes of this episode dedicated solely to showing underage cleavage, but I got a distinctly Hamlet-esque vibe tonight.

And yes, I'll explain, in that this possibly may be the only recap of Hidden Palms to ever compare the show to Hamlet.

In Bob, we have a man who was close to Johnny's father (a business partner, a close friend). After the suicide of Johnny's father, Bob marries Karen, sending an already sad son into further grief. Johnny's mother herself seems to simultaneously love her new husband while indicating some hesitation about her hasty remarriage. Substitute "Bob," "Karen" and "Johnny" with "Claudius," "Gertude" and "Hamlet" and you've got yourself an interesting little parallel going on there. Of course, Hamlet would never have picked the screenname "Camerashy90." He would have gone for something like "EmoDane" or "2BorNot2B."

In any case, I don't believe showing Cliff's problems with computers at the beginning of this episode was a red herring. Just as Palm Springs wasn't chosen by accident, I don't believe this particular house was chosen by accident, either. Then again, this could be wishful thinking of the part of someone who misses shows like Lost and Heroes in these summer months. Though if the marketing wizards at The CW break out a “Save the Greta, Save the World” campaign, I might be forced to take drastic measures.

What did you think of this week’s episode?  Do you find the central mystery compelling?  Is Bob all he seems to be?  What else caught your eye?

Comments

I saw it was going nowhere original or interesting...I am so sick of other people's emotional ghosts so before I succumbed to an early nap I went to the discovery channel;)

sophie | Jun 6, 2007 6:55:25 PM | #

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Heh. I actually did fall asleep. Then somebody switched to that dance show.

segue | Jun 6, 2007 9:02:33 PM | #

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Just to add, though... 'Traveler' kept me fully engrossed tonight.

segue | Jun 6, 2007 9:09:38 PM | #

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The original pilot had some much more interesting side stories which were cut for the actual broadcast. A threesome with two men and one woman.... should have known it would get cut before air...

MacIver | Jun 7, 2007 5:20:12 AM | #

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I liked the kid's sponsor in AA. He did a fabulous job portraying a seasoned 12 stepper. Other than that, it was a little on the ridiculous side and completely predictable.

Chris | Jun 7, 2007 6:12:32 AM | #

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Yes, Leslie Jordan as the AA sponsor is perfect! He's more toned down from his guest appearances on Will & Grace and Reba but perfect in every way for the show and the plot line.
More Leslie Jordan, please.

adgirl007 | Jun 7, 2007 6:58:16 AM | #

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I watched this episode months ago, and it haunts me still -- but not in a good way. I'm going to suggest an even more farfetched Hamlet connection, with Eddie as Hamlet, Sr., whose ghost comes back to set the record straight about his death. We saw something similar in the video game scene in that comedy classic "Strange Brew." Okay, I don't really believe this theory, but I really just wanted to give props to "Strange Brew" and its Hamlet references, eh? So back off, hoser.

Hanhonymous | Jun 7, 2007 8:08:51 AM | #

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I do like Leslie Jordan in the show.

Did anyone catch that both Hidden Palms and Traveler ended last night's shows by revealing "dead" characters as alive.

Anthony | Jun 7, 2007 9:01:25 AM | #

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i enjoyed the show .. and ithink ill try to keep up during the summer..

| Jun 7, 2007 10:57:19 AM | #

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Well, I for one am entertained by the show. It may not be the best show, but it's also not the worst. There have only been two episodes aired, for goodness sake. As with many shows, sometimes it takes several episodes for a show to find its footing and/or for viewers to get engaged.

Also, I'm thankful to have a scripted program on T.V. rather than a crap "reality" show. I loathe reality shows. If the networks are less inclined to show reruns during summer, at least here's a case where we have a scripted program to watch.

Finally, I don't get the sense that this show is going to take on a supernatural storyline. I don't know if the guy in the video is actually Eddie, but if he is, I'm interested to see the writers explain how he faked his death and fooled everyone else and why.

Robert | Jun 7, 2007 11:02:08 AM | #

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The only reason I think that there might be a supernatural or horror element to the show is because of Kevin Williamson's "Scream" background. Not completely sold on that's where it's going to go yet though.

Shannon | Jun 7, 2007 11:59:14 AM | #

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I like the show, like Robert said, it may not be the best, but it's also not the worst.

I'm interested in seeing what happens with Johnny and Greta, and also with Liza. Plus, Johnny's looks will keep me watching.

I want to see if Johnny finds out about Cliff's puppy-kicking side, and I want to know what happened to Eddie!

At least this summers will be more than beaches & video stores.

Cadi | Jun 7, 2007 9:18:23 PM | #

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Bob? Is there a Mike on this show too? THAT would be eerie. Are there any owls in Palm Springs?

On an unrelated note... any chance getting Palace Guard released on DVD? DW was *HOT* when he was young!

Laura Palmer | Jun 11, 2007 1:47:42 PM | #

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will this show just fade away and bring back veronica mars which is far more superior than this palms, please, please, pretty please cw.

rickie t. | Jun 11, 2007 7:20:47 PM | #

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