**This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!**
So I casually turned on Netflix yesterday and a trailer popped up for The I-Land. I immediately felt like it was a cheesy LOST ripoff, but the LOST fan in me was beyond curious, so I gave it a whirl and I ended up watching the entire show in one day. At first I thought that the show was meant to be a spoof, but I quickly learned that the show was trying to find an identity for itself, although I’m not sure it ever quite found it.
The I-Land is coded as a limited series and it features 7 episodes that are about 40 minutes in length each. It stars Natalie Martinez, Kate Bosworth, Ronald Peet, and Sibylla Deen.
Several strangers wake up on a deserted island and don’t remember anything about who they are and how they got there. Tempers immediately flare and mysteries start to unlock, attempting to give us LOST meets The Matrix. The strangers quickly realize that the island is extremely dangerous, but perhaps the biggest threat lies among them.
The Pros:
Lots of twists and sharks…did I mention sharks?
The show does provide us with a lot of unexpected twists and turns, bringing us along for the ride. I love shark movies so I’m always up for some toothy predators and the show continues to provide us with some twists until the very end. Not all of them are satisfying, but they did keep my attention.
The cast.
I’m a huge Kate Bosworth fan and Blue Crush is one of my go-to guilty pleasure movies. After all, it’s a cruel, cruel summer. I also enjoyed Natalie Martinez’s performance in Into the Dark’s “Down” episode on Hulu, so I was excited to see her on this show as well. The cast had a lot of potential, but a lot of that potential was stifled by some poor dialogue, but I liked their performances and characters enough to care about what happened to them…at least somewhat.
The flashbacks.
The flashback pieces were actually really interesting and I wish the show had spent more time on this rather than on some of their outrageous plot shifts. In particular, K.C.’s flashback (Bosworth) was probably the most interesting part of the show and I don’t understand why these flashbacks didn’t start occurring until the show was almost over. They could have been introduced and sprinkled throughout the show, which would have probably prevented so many viewers from tuning out after watching 1 or 2 episodes.
The Cons:
A really poor imitation of LOST.
The first episode literally opens with the main character’s eye opening, as she takes in her surroundings and sees the island. Does this sound familiar? That’s the exact opening of LOST and the similarities don’t stop here. We get a failed attempt at some kind of love triangle and the fade-out music sounds a lot like the soundtrack behind LOST, which honestly just irritated me. The show is actually different from LOST, but these obnoxious ripoffs will not help viewers tune in more if that was the goal.
The dialogue is atrocious.
I mean really atrocious. “Hey, you seem like a bitch…no you do!” “How do you think we got here? I don’t know.” Seriously it was like pulling teeth during certain parts and I don’t know why the most animated conversation involved a character’s right to sunbathe. Good thing those sharks broke up the party. I was cheering for them at this point.
The show is all over the place.
Once we get to episode 3, we start learning about the secrets of the island and we get more of a sci-fi feel. The first two episodes were so bad that I almost didn’t care at this point. However, since there were only 7 episodes, I continued to watch and we did get some interesting moments. I just don’t understand why we waited until the very end of the series to bring in some of these more worthy elements.
So am I in or out?
Unfortunately, I am out on this one. The LOST fan in me is extremely annoyed and angry, but I’m mostly out because this show actually had a real glimmer of potential. If the show had focused more on introducing us to the interesting flashbacks, they may have actually kept their audience. The talent of the actors was completely wasted on this and the twist at the end was not very satisfying.
I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on The I-Land in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!
Best,
Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl
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