Rank: 3.5/5
ABC’s newest drama, “The Family,” combines politics, kidnapping, murder, an affair and a false conviction. While the series is backed by an interesting premise, the March 3 premiere fell flat.
A decade ago, nine-year-old Adam Warren disappeared. The series follows his return to both his family and society after 10 years of abuse.
His older siblings, Danny and Willa, blamed themselves for his disappearance. They were supposed to be watching Adam, but, he unsurprisingly, he wandered away. To deal with the grief, Willa turned to religion, but Danny found comfort in the bottle and became an alcoholic.
Adam’s disappearance came amid his mother, Claire’s, growing political campaign. At the time, she was running for city council, but by the time he resurfaces, she has advanced to the position of mayor. Her aspirations and the loss of her son pushed a wedge between her and her husband, John.
John, much like Claire, capitalized on the disappearance of his son. He channelled his grief into book writing and motivational speeches. Seemingly the most normal family member, he is also the most distanced and spends most of his time on tour.
Hank Asher, the Warren’s sex offender neighbor, was put away for Adam’s murder. When Adam resurfaces, Asher is exonerated and released from prison, but remains trapped in the minds of the townspeople as a predator and is quickly singled out as a pariah.
The plot thickens as Danny begins to suspect that Adam isn’t who he says he is. His mother and sister assured him that a DNA test confirmed Adam’s identity, but an up-and-coming journalist discovers that a test was never performed.
The Warren family has more than their fair share of skeletons in the closet, and the premiere foreshadowed that many of these secrets will soon be revealed.
“The Family,” produced by former ShondaLand writer Jenna Bans, borrows the secrets, scandal, and seduction prevalent in shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How to Get Away with Murder.”
The characters are only surface-level. The Warrens went through extreme tragedy and the family was without one of its members for an entire decade, but the pilot barely touched upon those feelings and, instead, focused on their selfish desires and the importance of keeping up appearances.
Moreover, the attention-grabbing show, seems better-suited for a movie. Writers can only explore the details of Adam’s disappearance for so long, and even that was only a small portion of the episode. “The Family,” tantalizing as it is, fails to firmly take hold of viewers, leaving them wanting more.
“The Family” premiered in a special Thursday time slot on March 3 but will join ABC’s normal Sunday lineup in the 8 p.m. spot beginning March 6.