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Harper’s Island – You don’t cast a Cylon without using him

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Harper's Island

Point

I just realized that this show has a sorta clever naming scheme for its episodes. To date, since the premiere, the episodes have been named: “Whap,” “Crackle,” “Ka-Blam,” “Bang” and “Thwack.” Alright, maybe not so clever, as it’s obvious why those names were chosen, but it’s certainly unique. Case in point, I give you “Thwack,” above.

This week, finally, we get some mention of the missing Lucy, though it appears a small detail was never mentioned or, quite possibly, I just never caught it before: since when did people believe Lucy was going to be gone until the day after the rehearsal?

Unless my eyes deceive me — and IMDb is still out of date — Battlestar Galactica‘s Callum Keith Rennie (the Cylon Leoben) is apparently playing the murderer John Wakefield. Now, if that’s the case, then the folks behind casting for this show are not going to put someone like Rennie in a role unless he’s clearly going to make an appearance beyond an old mug shot. The question is, will he wind up really being the one behind the murders or out to try to prove his innocence? It’s really tough to tell without knowing more about the evidence surrounding the old murders, though at this point — with all the speculation CBS is throwing out that someone we’ve already seen is behind the murders — it would feel like a big cop-out to find that Wakefield’s behind it all.

I vote that Wakefield will wind up dead before the series is out, yet the murders continue.

Counterpoint

To me, it’s still looking like we’ve got two things going on here. One, someone is trying to sabotage the wedding. Two, something’s going on with Uncle Marty’s money. Sure, I suppose they could be connected somehow, but right now it seems separate. Oh, and then Kelly’s hanging is random, so perhaps that blows my theory and there are three things going on here, and Kelly’s death pulls in the Wakefield piece. If they’re clever, the writers will connect everything at the end and we’ll all think Harper’s Island is the next best thing since Agatha Christie.

I’ve gotta say, these people are getting on my nerves. Clearly bad things are happening all around them, yet still they don’t get something sinister is going on. Ya think they’ll get it now that Daddy got an axe through the forehead? I suppose I’ve got to give them all a little leeway; they are, after all, stuck in a horror genre, the likes of which have people refusing to vacate haunted houses, going into the cemetery at night, that sort of thing. So in light of that, perhaps we ought to throw some props at the writers for sticking to the genre so closely, giving us what we watch on the big screen: stupid, stupid people.

Some possible clues or red herrings we were thrown tonight:

  • JD staring at his forehead — not sure if we’re supposed to know what that’s all about yet and I missed it, but I’m filing that one away
  • the firecracker in the church — probably not JD’s
  • Daddy Wellington telling Trish his gut doesn’t trust Henry
  • Shane the local bohunk is still in jail, so that rules him out as a suspect

I think Keith is probably right about Wakefield, and I’m finding it hard to believe a local is the culprit, unless it’s someone we haven’t met yet. It can’t be Abby’s dad, can it?

Photo Credit: CBS

Categories: | Episode Reviews | General | TV Shows |

9 Responses to “Harper’s Island – You don’t cast a Cylon without using him”

May 10, 2009 at 12:38 PM

The real question is – is CBS the real killer because the show is not on the schedule next week. I haven’t seen this week’s episode yet, so I don’t know if there are previews for the “next episode” so I’m curious to know if CBS has yanked the show from the airwaves and we’ll only ever know the killer by having to watch episodes online or wait for the inevitable DVD release. I have not seen any reports of the show being pulled, so I’m curious to know why it’s not on the schedule next week (a repeat of “The Mentalist” is in its place).

May 10, 2009 at 12:41 PM

Chuck — Previews said it’s on again in two weeks.

May 11, 2009 at 2:03 AM

Thanks! It’s odd they’re breaking it up though. It was originally supposed to be on for 13 consecutive weeks (and on Thursdays, but that’s a different story altogether).

May 10, 2009 at 3:41 PM

I’m enjoying this show but I do think that the past 2 shows weren’t as good as the first few…mostly I think because of the “Stupid People” phenomenon you mentioned. Hopefully things will get better now that everyone knows bad things are happening.

May 10, 2009 at 11:33 PM

The top suspects as I see it are Jimmy and Henry.

Jimmy is semi-weird, he pines over Abby and has connections to both the Sheriff’s department and fishing (which covers all the known victims of the original murders.) My theory is that he flipped out over people interfering and stopping him seeing Abby. He is the number one contender because he has all the skills, knowledge, opportunities, and a potential motive.

Henry is notable for being on/near the scene of one of the original murders and a critical injury (the same scene), a boat explosion. He arrived to help as soon as it occurred, although Mills was also present. The survivor of the explosion is likely the burned guy we saw in this episode (Cole Harkin), so he must have some significance. I don’t like him as much for the killer though because there is no known info so far to speculate a possible motive, but he does probably have the skills and knowledge, and seems to have the opportunities. The articles covering other killings that Mills has also favor Henry over Jimmy, as he lives away from the island.

May 11, 2009 at 8:37 AM

“JD staring at his forehead — not sure if we’re supposed to know what that’s all about yet and I missed it, but I’m filing that one away”

I think we saw he has colored hair black and he is blond. not sure if we really need to know that tho :)

May 11, 2009 at 9:26 AM

I’m having a REALLY hard time telling the smaller characters apart on this show, but the blonde guy, the one who told Henry he tried to sleep with Trish while they were broken up? He had a suspicious look on his face right before the chandelier incident.

May 20, 2009 at 8:55 PM

Check out Harpersglobe.com it tells additional information. A scene that was left on the cutting room floor had Lucy going get her boyfriend and bring him back.

July 16, 2009 at 6:47 AM

liked series – killer was surprising never suspected him –

was it based on agatha christie ten little indians

would like to read book if available

wakefield definitely crazy to think girlfriend gave away baby willingly – who would a creep like kid

how was jd related to henry – was he just son of adopting parents

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