Cedar Cove
Episode 1: Pilot
By: Carlos Uribe
Cedar
Cove is a show about the personal life of a small-town judge.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
Cedar Cove holds the distinction for being the first original series
to air on Hallmark. The channel has been doing television movies for
a while now but this is the first time it's launching an actual show.
Cedar Cove is basically the exact kind of show you would expect to
find on the Hallmark channel. It's a small-town drama that centers
around a judge. It's filled with tragic moments that are engineered
to generate tears without actually feeling like it's real-life. It's
quite possibly the most cheesy show since 7th Heaven.
There is nothing wrong with this as I don't mind some cheesy moments
in my entertainment. I have no doubt that the same people who flock
to watch Hallmark movies are going to love this show. It really isn't
a show for me. I might not mind some cheesy moments but I don't want
a television series where they are basically every single story beat.
It doesn't help that the pilot is largely predictable when it comes
to big plot movements, the characters aren't very well developed, and
it's very close-ended to the point where I don't need to see another
episode. That's actually a huge problem with the pilot: there is
nothing that really is going to want to make the viewer want to come
back. The pilot's direction also suffers some serious issues in that
it feels very staged. There wasn't a single scene that felt natural.
I like being able to escape into a television show but it's
impossible to do that when everything feels like a play. This is an
issue that will probably be corrected in future episodes as the
actors get more comfortable in their roles and with their coworkers
but it's one that makes it difficult to really immerse yourself from
day one.
The pilot for Cedar Cove largely plays out like a Hallmark Channel
movie. There is the judge who gets offered the job she's always
wanted. Her name is put on a list to be a federal judge. It's
basically her dream but she turns it down in the end because then
there wouldn't be a series. This is a show about a small-town judge,
not a federal one in a large city. The series is going to require her
to stay in Cedar Cove so it should come as no surprise when she
decides to stick around. It's actually kind of annoying how long the
pilot kept up the ruse because it was so obvious. If this was a
movie, it might have worked. She does get a case which suggests the
show might have a weekly case where her ruling manages to improve the
lives of the people involved. It's basically a promise of a
“feel-good” ending every week which might work for the fans but
it's too light for my tastes. While all of this is going on, the new
guy in town (a reporter so he can ask questions) falls in love with
her. It's a cheesy love story that has lines like “I can't stop
thinking about you.” That should basically give you an indication
of what this show is really like. The only good part is that making
him a reporter gave the writers a perfect vehicle to introduce the
town and it's quirky residents. The final plot has to do with the
daughter who was planning to marry someone because she wanted
security rather than love. Only this relationship seems doomed
because the judge blackmails him to break up with her. There are
seeds for a love triangle because her old high school sweetheart, who
has no planned future, has come back to town. It's a very basic love
triangle where she has to pick between safety or taking a risk with
love. Only it's not terribly interesting when we all know what the
outcome is going to be and there's no reason for anyone to root for
the guy she agreed to marry. The pilot was predictable, it never
really had a compelling story, and by the time it was done it felt
like there was nowhere else for the show to go. The case got it's
happy ending, Jack and the judge begin their new relationship, and
the only plot that doesn't get resolved is Justine's but you know
where that's going. There's too much closure that the rest of the
season isn't justified by the pilot.
The main character in Cedar Cove is Olivia Lockhart, the town's
judge. She wants to make a difference, believes in the law, and
presumably shares no relation with Diane Lockhart. I guess a major
issue with me is that I never really connected with her. She's
obviously trying to do the right thing but there was never anything
that made her interesting or compelling. Being a judge who tries to
make a difference isn't bad but it can't be all that defines the
character. Her love interest, Jack Griffith, is as bland as possible.
He's a reporter who used to be alcoholic which is why he moved to the
small town. It's his last chance. It's the most predictable backstory
you could give someone and it's not like his alcoholism really makes
him interesting. He quickly falls in love with Olivia, tries his best
to track down stories, but there's never any moment where I found
myself rooting for him. The two main characters of the show might be
in love but it's ultimately hard to care about them. There's nothing
more to Olivia outside of her job while Jack simply doesn't work well
as the male lead. What's worse is that these two characters feel like
their the most fake of them all, the most scripted, the most
artificial. It's possible they might be fleshed out more as the
series goes along but it's not a good start that the two begin as
lifeless as possible. Not only does the plot give no reason to come
back to Cedar Cove but the characters don't either. I'd like to note
that it was a nice touch that Jack kept drinking coffee: an obvious
substitute for alcohol. I'm being overtly negative in this review to
this show that I need to point out that it does do some things right.
The rest of the characters don't fare that well. The judge's
daughter, Justine, is stuck in a relationship with security but no
love. She's now going to be tempted by her former high school
sweetheart whose a risk but whom she's obviously meant to be with.
There is no question on this matter and I doubt this “love”
triangle will split up any potential fanbase this show has. Justine
isn't a very complex character and the attempt to give her a layer
failed miserably. It's revealed near the end of the pilot that
Justine had a twin brother that died when they were thirteen. She had
watched him drown. We are told she never really got over him and
later on she tells her mother that she's been thinking about him all
this time. Only this doesn't work because there is no indication that
she was actually doing this before we find out that the judge's son
died. She never mentions him, she doesn't wake up from a bad dream
about him, and she doesn't seem to even care about him until she's
caught watching a tape of them from childhood. This kind of grief
should have been reflected from the very beginning rather than
shoehorned at the very end. The rest of the characters don't really
make that much of an impression. The quirky ones are quirky while the
rest are rather boring.
Cedar Cove begins on the wrong foot. I wouldn't mind a show with a
lot of cheesy moments but I at least ask for characters that are
going to sell them. The judge and the reporter should have been more
interesting and compelling rather than as bland as possible. The
daughter could have been developed better throughout the pilot rather
than an attempt to force depth into her later in the episode. The
plot could have had a little less closure and a little more promise
that there's more to the story. The pilot for Cedar Cove promises a
weekly Hallmark Channel movie. Some people might be interested in
that but I'm not. If you like what the channel has done, I recommend
checking this show out. If not, then this is a show you can miss
without losing any sleep over it.
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