FEAR ITSELF Episode Review: "Echoes"
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"Echoes" is Rupert Wainwright's "Fear Itself" episode which is the last of the five unaired episodes of the short-lived NBC series. The ep stars Aaron Stanford (The Hills Have Eyes Remake), and Eric Balfour (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003). The episode stars Stanford as a normal everyday, average guy, who has a girlfriend, but their relationship soon becomes troubled as Stanford's character has strange visions from back in times of himself commiting vicious murders. This episode is basically a reincarnation story, and that's the gist of the episode. Stanford's character is actually Eric Balfour's character, just reincarnated somehow. With Balfour playing a guy with bad temper, a violent streak, and a flirtatious girlfriend who drives him to unleash his dark side.
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I personally have never been a fan of reincarnation horror, or split-personality horror. This episode doesn't do much for me because while the performances are good, it takes a very predictable trek through the entire 43 minute span. It's almost too easy to pinpoint what's gonna happen in the middle and end of the story, and that's never much fun. The writer makes it too easy to guess what turn events are gonna take here, and an actor with the depth and range of Stanford is sort of wasted in the episode considering they don't really give him much to work with except a story that will begin and end as any genre buff expects it to.
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Eric Balfour doesn't do a bad job in the episode either, and in the supporting cast is the British guy from "Snakes On A Plane", playing the shrink of Stanford's character, who tries to help him get to the bottom of his issues. I'd like to say the episode could've worked if it had been written better, but to be honest, it was doomed from the very start. The script and story is so one-tracked-minded that it leaves no real room to get creative, intriguing, or interesting in any way. This wasn't a story that could twist, turn, and flip things to shock the viewer. It had nowhere else to go but up, or down, like an elevator. |
And knowing how a journey will end eventually is not entertaining or a real treat to watch. This ep isn't heavy on the blood and gore, which is expected. But it's also very small on scares or anything that would make a genre fan happy that they spent 43 minutes of their lives watching this thing. The ending is a big snooze because like I said above, this episode is predictable, and the ending can be seen coming from a mile away, so there's no need to wonder how "Echoes" concludes. Unless you're one of those people who likes to tell themselves one thing while knowing the eventual outcome will be the exact opposite. Beyond Stanford's performances, "Echoes", is a very quiet...mess.
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