I’ve mentioned before that lots of shows want to introduce a mystery so they can be the next Lost. FaceBook Watch created a show this year called Limetown, and my notes from the launch notice say “Missing neuroscience community members”. Based on that, I predicted cancellation.

So the basic premise is that a bunch of neuroscientists and their family moved to a remote compound with very little info about what it would focus on or what it was going to do. It had opening day speeches, and lots of talk about the dream. But then sometime later a 911 call comes into a neighbouring area asking for firetrucks, ambulances and police to come, send everything, and to “turn it off”, whatever “it” was. The police and everyone arrived and found a private security force refusing to let anyone in (make a note of this, it’s important later). After three days, they opened the gates. Everyone went in, and found … nobody. Everyone was gone. Well, almost everyone. There was a single body in the square that had been crucified and burned at the stake (well, lamp post actually). But the other 326 people were just gone. Dun dun dun.

Fast forward fifteen years, and the people have never turned up. A journalist is writing a story about the mystery of Limetown that was never solved, and her editor is giving her a hard time about it because there is NOTHING NEW to say. She does have a personal connection to the story because her uncle was one of the people who went there and then disappeared.

So the first episode is about her doing interviews, generally being creepy (she records an audio track of herself having sex with a neighbour and then masturbates later while listening to it), and built into for tension, a flashforward to somebody banging on her door, telling her it’s a warning. Dun, DUN, DUN!

Except here’s the thing. Bottom-line, the people all went into the compound and then they disappeared, and NOBODY knows where they went. Not the FBI, not a journalist who had been there before, etc. Yet there WERE people inside, the security team. Remember I said they would be important? I did say that because they were inside, and wouldn’t let anybody in. But I don’t care who you are, if you are securing a compound, and the FBI shows up at your gate saying someone inside called 911, you’re going to go investigate. You’re going to see everyone is gone, or you’re already going to know they’re gone. Someone had to tell them something to get them to hold the gate. Or why wait 3 days? Regardless, there is an obvious lead there. Yet NO MENTION OF IT anywhere in the episode to explain it away.

In addition, the FBI did discover that under every house was a tunnel that connected to a huge network in the area — 80 miles of caves. So, the journalist rightly asks, “They must have all left through the tunnels, right?” Except there were no tracks to indicate where they went. Okay, but that’s hardly proof. Absence of proof is not proof of absence. So while the show likely intends that the people left through other-worldly means (something to do with dreams), the how is pretty well solved in the normal world — and they all left willingly. Why? That’s a separate issue. The How is solved. More or less. It will unravel, sure, but there’s no mystery for anyone to ask “How did they leave?”. There’s only one option — they left through the tunnels, mystery solved. Maybe not solved correctly, but solved in the eyes of the general public. So why is she writing a story about it?

The premise is interesting — a whole town disappeared — but there are too many plot holes there to take it seriously enough to watch.

On the acting side, Jessica Biel is a long way from 7th Heaven days, but honestly, she seems like she’s on meds the whole show. Numb, non-reactive, staring, little animation in her face or body. Yawn. Her uncle is played by Stanley Tucci, but there is very little of him to see in Ep1, so no idea if he has anything to do later (nothing really in Ep1). She has a partner writer assigned to her, and he does nothing but act dazed and confused (Omar Elba). Her editor is played by Sherri Saum but her role is minimal too. So overall, pretty bland in Ep1. If they didn’t add in the flash-forward to someone freaking out and banging on her door, you might not even finish watching the episode. It was the only ACTION in the whole show.

I’m sticking with cancellation as my prediction, and even that is generous.

EPIX put out a decent amount of new shows this year, and one of them is Godfather of Harlem. Shows like American Gangster and Hoodlum have used some of the same real-life characters before, so it’s not unfamiliar ground for many, but there’s no telling how close it is to the reality of the era. Based on the premise, I predicted cancellation.

Ignoring the historical roots for a moment, the premise is a black crime boss returns from Alcatraz to his old neighbourhood in Harlem. According to the show, he went down on a narcotics bust that the mafia families had screwed up, and yet he took the hit and didn’t snitch. So he has some goodwill on his side. But he wants his business back. While he’s been gone, the Italians have taken it over, from 110th to 160th Street. I found two scenes particularly compelling in the opening episode.

First was his return to his old neighbourhood. His wife has a welcome home party for him, and as he wanders around the room talking to people, they all have the same pattern — welcoming him home and then mentioning business to him or asking indirectly for money. The local don is back, and everybody seems to want a piece of the action again.

The second was a scene where he makes a deal with Malcolm X and Reverend Powell to get something they each want. Yes, Malcolm X. And Malcolm isn’t too happy he’s being used by the crime boss, but if there’s a deal that furthers his agenda too, he’s open to it.

But what makes the show is a combination of the tone (earnest, aggressive camera angles) and the acting. Forest Whitaker plays Bumpy Johnson, the returning crime boss, and he is outstanding. I fell in love with Whitaker back in the day for Good Morning, Vietnam, although Platoon, Bloodsport and the Color of Money didn’t hurt either. Obviously, 30 years later, he’s more mature, and that older calmer man is capable of a much different, more nuanced performance. He’s got henchmen and family running around, but it’s when he’s working that he truly shines.

Vincent D’Onofrio plays his Italian counterpart who took over the business. He looks smaller and healthier than the behemoth that was Wilson Fisk (Daredevil), but I doubt he’ll ever match the magic of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. That was just pure heaven in the early days. Here he does a great job of wheels within wheels of machinations.

Paul Sorvino has a small part as a mafia don, and he’s decent, while Giancarlo Esposito plays Reverend Powell well too. But in the opener, it was Nigel Thatch as Malcolm X who truly outclassed everyone in every scene. Part writing, part character, part actor, but it was awesome.

And while I was expecting The Sopranos with black people, the episode is so much more. And I’ll change my prediction. Now that I have seen an episode, I have to predict that EPIX will renew it. The actors are too good not to be renewed.

Netflix has a show called The Politician, and based on the description, it apparently is about a young man’s self-chosen destiny to be the President of the United States. In order to get there, Payton has six other elections to win, and the apparent intent of the show is that each season will deal with each of the elections. Up first? The election to become president of his high school. Based on the description, I was estimating something between Jack and Bobby and the West Wing, but likely closer to Jack and Bobby. And I predicted cancellation.

What I didn’t see mentioned in any of the short materials announcing the show was the note that the show is, more or less, a COMEDY. If I’d known that, I would have predicted cancellation much more rapidly. Now that I’ve seen it, I can only say it is not like any other show I’ve ever seen. There is humour buried within it, although it is played entirely straight.

Episode 1 revolves around the revelation that Payton’s friend is running against him. Mainly because his girlfriend put him up to it. As the story progresses, you realize that he slept with the guy the year before, there’s much more emotion running through the jealous girlfriend’s hatred of Payton, etc. And — spoiler alert — the guy running against him, River, ends up committing suicide. Then Payton and his advisors scheme how to turn the suicide to his advantage. The juxtaposition between cold and calculated political machinations — Payton sings at the funeral, he picks a girl with cancer as his running mate — against the nature of the job…it’s JUST high school, right? Yet Payton has three advisors on his team. Even the West Wing was never this brutal.

But while it is mildly amusing in places, it is definitely not laugh-out-loud funny, and I don’t see it making it seven seasons. I’m going to check out now.