MovieChat Forums > The Family (2016) Discussion > Deserved at least one more season, but.....

Deserved at least one more season, but...

posted 8 years ago by mahou_fancy_lala
5 replies | jump to latest

...perhaps this show was too heavy? It was never visually graphic yet some of the details and things left to the imagination were a bit chilling. And this is coming from someone who regularly watches horror movies with far more explicit content. Not to mention none of the characters were exactly ones you would root for, except maybe Adam, but he was hardly on screen other than as a flashback or a "ghost."

The Family had a lot of twists and turns, which made it enjoyable for me. Same can be said for fellow ABC show Secrets and Lies (I like S&L, but how did that get renewed???). Yet I found the acting a bit more convincing in The Family. The finale was particularly good if there had been a renewal. As a standalone, it was frustrating as it completely curveballed you with the surprising ~comeback~ of Adam. Would have loved to see how they would handle his return and the fate of Ben, who I found sympathetic at times even if he was truly messed up (for obvious reasons).

Sad to see this sleeper mystery go. It wasn't the best written, but it knew how to keep me watching.

ABC is so weird with its renewals and cancellations this season so I shouldn't be surprised.

[–] norman-dostal 8 years ago

It was only intended to be one season and ratings weren't great

[–] cardinalsfan27 8 years ago

It was intended to have a second season. The finale sets it up and the producers have even talked about what the plans were for the second season.

[–] ladydog1980 8 years ago

We LOVED it. Will not invest any more time on ABC new shows!! They cancel too easy! Designated survivor looks good, but, I just can't watch!

[–] hnt_dnl 8 years ago

I actually liked Secrets and Lies, but mostly for Ryan Phillippe. He was outstanding and the entire Season 1 focus was on his character. But now that it's a completely different story, I'm afraid it won't be as compelling.

I think The Family got a raw deal. I loved every aspect of it. After a shaky Pilot, every single episode afterwards had me riveted to the screen and I enjoyed all of the twists and thought the acting was top notch across the board.

[–] tb-sch 8 years ago

The forced twists at the ending threw the carefully constructed web of relationships and motives overboard. Here and there an explanation was lacking (like: why did they never bother to check the malls video footage?) and sometimes the need for a cliffhanger blew things out of proportion (like the big reveal of the birdhouse, which did not prove anything at all but was announced like a game changer).
Instead of creating one great season, the creators tried to get a second, which made them "save" parts of the mystery for later, letting the show fail as a miniseries. And the main reason why one would not expect the main twist at the end, was simply that nobody expected the show to be so dumb (except of course for the people disliking it right from the start for its slowness and the bit of niftiness which was missing compared to HBO/Netflix productions).

Unlike Secrets And Lies the show was free of dead ends. Every theory the show implied lead to something. There were no filler episode in which the show just followed a pointless lead to get back at the point where it started. Until the finale, there was no action scene crammed into the mix.

I have no idea why they did not shoot an alternate ending, tying up the loose ends in alternative scenes and letting Adam stay dead. The cancelation was a sure thing from the middle of the season, as a show with a progressing plot and lots of "blink and you miss it" moments does not have a chance to gain additional audience unless being on netflix.