Dead of Summer

For years, I have heard so many people talk about the 1980s thinking life was better back then, and wishing we could go back to that time. That being said, I've noticed how a lot of TV shows and movies done today will take place in the '80s, trying to remind people of the lifestyle back then. Obviously, one show that does that is The Goldbergs, 1980 something. Dead Of Summer also takes place in the '80s, specifically the Summer of 1989. This show involves a group of young adults as camp counselors at Camp StillWater who experience creepy, paranormal things going on around the camp, and they can't really explain what or why this is happening? That's the thing about this show. I find this show entertaining, something I want to watch on T.V. But, it would be hard for me to write like an article or school paper about what this show is all about? I really can't say too much more about the plot of the TV show than what I put in the previous paragraph as the ideal summary. It's also hard to know the reason for the supernatural activity? The opening scene from the first episode seemed to give a quick reason behind the supernatural activity at the camp, but it wasn't specific enough, and there seem to be other reasons in the later episodes. Another thing to mention, is unless I really looked into this show, I wouldn't be able to give a Dead Of Summer wiki article for the characters. I feel like it's hard for us to remember the characters names, or even say what is going on with them. I feel like this show focuses on too many things, that it is hard for us to keep a grasp on an individual character. Like one scene, it will focus on a character experiencing something paranormal at the camp, the next scene it will focus on another character, then the next scene, they take us out of the camp focusing on a character's life at home before going to camp, and then switch scenes, making it harder for us to keep up with what is going on? While this TV show takes place in the '80s, I like a lot of you don't really feel like this show gives us an '80s feel. I mean, their clothes and hairstyle don't really look '80s, and it almost feels like this show takes place today rather then back then. Though, they do a good job showing the technology at the time like an '80s radio, and we hear '80s music. But, this won't take us back to the '80s as much as The Goldbergs and Everybody Hates Chris does. In all, while I mostly talked about what is wrong with the show. Mostly saying it's hard for us to know what's going on because of the uneven pacing, and it focuses on too many things. I still find this show entertaining to watch. The creators of Once Upon A Time, are co-creators of this show. I'd recommend watching it, but if you start watching now, you'd probably also have trouble explaining what is going on. I think this show deserves an 8/10.

OK, so it's not Scream the original movie. It's not smart or sophisticated and it's not a fresh and exciting new take on an old genre. But if you let go of all your preconceptions and expectations, it CAN BE something else. It can be a summertime guilty pleasure; and that's not at bad thing at all. Because it's actually pretty easy to be entertained by something you don't expect much from… and if you do that with this show, you give it the potential to deliver. First, everybody has something to hide so by the end of episode 2 you know that much of what you've seen isn't what it appears to be. Sure, it's been done before but in some cases, and with these people, the humans are just as scary as the ghosts! If nothing else, trying to figure out who's going to mess with whom and why can actually end up fun. Or, put another way, let the backstabbing begin and just try to follow the knife! So what if the history of the camp has been seen and done before in any number of ways. We haven't seen it done with Tony Todd, who floats through the show like an avatar of death and destruction without giving the viewer enough knowledge yet to be certain of why he does it or what it actually means. So, bad guy? Yes. In this context? No way to know yet. And by the end of episode 2 it would also appear that filing this show away in a box marked "guilty pleasures 2016" might not be a half bad idea. So give it two episodes, get out your popcorn and surrender your disbelief, cynicism and critical analysis. Don't try to take it apart, take it for what it is and enjoy the ride. It's not brilliant, surreal or groundbreaking. But neither is a trip to the old state fair and we enjoy going to that every year in spite of it all!