For a series so in need of solid kid actors to sell the somewhat cliche set up (I’m not sure The Omen and Poltergeist are referenced here so much as just ignored), all the kids are largely up to the task, especially little Harper, who sets up an elaborate game of cat and mouse with her mom that ends in a chilling tree house showdown between kid, mom and gravity. Three episodes in, The Whispers begins putting context behind these events, creating a satisfying there’s-a-reason-for-all-of-this mythology that’s not just random, incoherent noise. But, as usual, any final verdict on the overall puzzle is impossible to know so early. Still, I have a surprising amount of confidence, spurred by the show’s solid structure and set-up, for at least most of this to avoid being completely nonsensical by season’s end.
Really, The Whispers‘ biggest downfall may prove to be sheer timing, a John Carter syndrome of classic source material translating into functional but somewhat repetitive entertainment in the present day. It feels more like a show ABC would have tried in the immediate years following Lost‘s end and even less like their heavily soap opera and Marvel-filled line-up of today. But it’s far more successful than those earlier pretenders, its coiling plot a bit stronger, its cast more engaging and its central mystery more head-scratching. And though Fox may have the upper hand in sheer WTF-ness over in Wayward Pines, The Whispers feels decidedly more confident in itself, especially this early on.
A novel concept many television shows of this ilk seem to forget, even the classics, is this degree of confidence and follow-through related to that specific show’s own self-governing logic. Most are too preoccupied with being madcap and shocking to bother with any sort of actual story benefit of such in-the-moment blindsides. Although every revelation and twist on The Whispers may not cause you to scrape your jaw off the floor, they’re logical, easy-to-follow turnabouts that do that lovely thing of not only making more sense of the show’s world, but, you know, actually making sense.
