© ROBERT VOETS/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Not having read the Eastwick book or seen the movie I went into the pilot of Eastwick with no prior knowledge of any of the characters or potential storylines. With no past knowledge of the story, I really didn’t have that high of expectations of the show. It actually kind of looked like a Desperate Housewives rip-off. After seeing the pilot I have to say that Eastwick is currently an average show with the potential to be much better.
Plot
In the town of Eastwick wishes truly do come true. With the help of a magical wishing well, three ladies of Eastwick gain powers the city hasn’t seen in many, many years. These three ladies were far from friends in their normal lives but their new found powers bring them together. A strange man by the name of Darryl Van Horne also shows up in town and things are never the same again.
Cast
© Robert Voets/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Roxie Torcoletti (Rebecca Romijn) is a single mother and a free-spirited woman. She currently owns her own art store. She is always the center of gossip in the city of Eastwick thanks to her much younger boyfriend. Roxie also has cash problems with her art store facing bankruptcy. When Darryl arrives in town, Roxie’s vivid dreams/premonitions begin to get more vivid and point to a very dangerous future for herself and the city of Eastwick.
© Robert Voets/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Kat Gardener (Jaime Ray Newman) married her high school sweetheart and currently has five small children. She is also a registered nurse. Kat is sick of being pushed around though and would just want someone to take care of her for once. Her husband is lazy drunk who does nothing but yell at his wife. When Kat realizes her powers she starts to finally stick up for herself.
© Robert Voets/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Joanna Frankel (Lindsay Price) is a shy and awkward newspaper reporter. Due to her nature she is pushed around at work and in her personal life. At work she gets no recognition while in her personal life she is unable to express her true feelings for her co-worker Will. With her new powers and Darryl’s advice, Joanna finally starts to realize her power to stick up for herself and get what she wants.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Darryl Van Horne (Paul Gross) is a very wealthy man that shows up in Eastwick under some suspicious circumstances. He is a very mysterious man who seems to have his sights set on Joanna, Kat, and Roxie. Darryl helps the three ladies embrace their powers and discover how powerful they can actually become.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Will (Johann Urb) is one of Joanna’s co-workers who she has a crush on.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Penny (Sara Rue) is Joanna’s best friend. She is very suspicious of Darryl though and she decides to investigate his arrival in Eastwick.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Raymond (Jon Berthnal) is Kat’s wife and is an unemployed drunk. Raymond is not to thrilled to find out about Kat’s new abilities.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Mia (Ashley Benson) is Roxie’s high school daughter.
© Bob D'Amico/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.
Bun (Veronica Cartwright) is the head of the Eastwick Historical Society. Bun suddenly goes into a comma as the women realize their abilities. Bun eventually awakes to give the ladies a warning about Darryl.
Review
The main reason I would consider Eastwick an average show is that it needs work. The pilot was a little slow and things could have moved at a brisker pace. It was the pilot after all so that could be the reason for the slow pace. Things just started so slow at the beginning of the pilot. The pace did pick up towards the end of the episode and that is also when the show got quite a bit better. Hopefully this improvement in the pilot continues into future episodes.
Most people are comparing Eastwick to Desperate Housewives and I actually think that is a valid comparison. It has a pretty similar style to Desperate Housewives except of course in Eastwick the characters have magical powers. Overall Desperate Housewives is a considerably better show at this point since the characters are more interesting and it has a healthier stream of laughs that are missing at this point in Eastwick.
While Eastwick has some troubles at this point, I see the potential in the series. The characters are interesting and could be developed into some pretty entertaining characters. With some strong character development, Eastwick could become a pretty good character drama. While Eastwick is quite a bit like Desperate Housewives, I like the addition of sci-fi elements. The sci-fi elements are an interesting twist but also aren’t too big of a distraction for those people who generally don’t like sci-fi.
Eastwick has the potential to develop into a good series. It just needs to work on the characters and add some humor while avoiding running out of story ideas. If the show can successfully do that it could become an above average to a good show.
Other Fall 2009 Previews:
ABC
The CW
USA
The show totally felt like an episode of Desperate Housewives, which was NOT the feel I was hoping to get from this show. I wanted something much more eclectic and special. I like Desperate Housewives, but that’s not what I wanted this show to be like.
Big disappointment. I kept waiting for Susan or Bree to walk by. Also, the music was very similar to the tone of “Housewives.”
That said, I loved the John Updike novel and very much enjoyed the film from 1987, so I intend to give this show some more time to grow on me.