ABC’s ‘Resurrection’ Brings Back that ‘Lost’ Feeling to TV

Resurrection logo #ABCTVEvent
Photo credit: ABC/Bob D’Amico

Ever since LOST ended its amazing and mysterious run in 2010, I’ve been looking for a solid replacement show. Sure there’s loads of great TV I’m enjoying, but nothing to fill that “eerie and mysterious” niche.

Comedies, dramas and action-packed shows are covered. But I haven’t been able to hook myself on anything “special” since that last episode of LOST. And then I saw ABC’s new show Resurrection. And after just the pilot, I’m already hooked.

Based loosely on the book The Returned, by James Mott, the show centers on the town of Arcadia, Missouri, where recent events have suddenly given life to this quiet town. Everyone’s lives are turned upside down when previously dead loved ones start showing up, looking just as they did right before they died.

Jacob Langston drowned over 30 years ago, but the 8-year-old boy wakes up alone in China with no idea how he even got there. He’s eventually reunited with his way-more-than-shocked parents in Arcadia, and the questioning begins. More and more dead folks start popping up in the town, leading to loads of questions such as: Why are they coming back to life? How are they coming back? Why does it only seem to be happening in Arcadia? Is there any connection between all these characters? How badly do these people smell?

The really neat part about the show is that this whole spooky sort of back story/mystery is only the foundation. I have a feeling over time some questions will be somewhat answered as more continue to pop up. But what really makes the show work so well is that there are oodles of other character-based mysteries layered on top of the show’s premise.

Even without the holy-cow-you-were-like-totally-dead-and-now-you’re-back angle, the suspenseful and super mysterious goings on of the main characters would have me hooked. Especially Caleb Richards who is sooo much more than he seems.

On a recent trip to L.A., I participated in a two-day #ABCTVEvent (which was incredible!). As part of that event, we screened the second episode of Resurrection and got to speak with Executive Producers Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas!

Don’t worry, I’m not going to give anything away about the second episode except to say that the mystery deepens and a few new ones surface. Also, there’s that crazy “WHOA!” ending that nobody saw coming. Seriously, there were about 25 of us bloggers in one room watching and when that last scene hit, it was one huge, collective gasp!

The episode delves more into Jacob’s life as he tries to adjust to a world he left some 30+ years ago. Or rather, the world tries to adjust to a dead kid returning. It’s tough enough anytime a child dies, but having a child die and then come back decades later is just… well, downright impossible to deal with.

You’ll also see and learn loads more about Caleb, as his story starts to unfold. And it’s his part of the tale that has me itching most for the next episode!

Resurrection Group #ABCTVEvent
ABC’s “Resurrection” stars Mark Hildreth as Pastor Tom Hale, Kurtwood Smith as Henry Langston, Landon Gimenez as Jacob Langston, Frances Fisher as Lucille Langston, Omar Epps as J. Martin Bellamy, Devin Kelley as Maggie Langston, Matt Craven as Fred Langston, Samaire Armstrong as Elaine Richards and Sam Hazeldine as Caleb Richards. (ABC/Bob D’Amico)

It was so cool seeing an episode of Resurrection before it aired, but it was even cooler watching it with the Executive Producers and then getting some time for a quick Q&A session! I thought I’d share some of the highlights of our informal interview:

Are we going to find out how these people were brought back? 

Tara Butters: That’s one of the central questions of the entire series. There are some answers but we don’t answer everything. We still want to have an investigative drive. Do we know yet? There are several questions: Why here? Why Arcadia? Why is it happening? How is it happening? When we pitched the season to ABC, we pitched them the last scene of the last episode of the series. So we know where we want to go.

Michele Fazekas: As writers, one of the things we tried to do was  answer some questions. But like anything, when you get one answer, it kind of makes you have more questions. And in some ways, it’s almost beside the point because they’re back now, regardless of how they came back. And it is something that Marty and Maggie are investigating and trying to figure out. 

In the meantime, these people are still here. Much of the drama comes from, “What do you do now that you have this 8-year-old boy? How do you deal with that?” Henry’s got a very complicated reaction to this. He feels like “If I embrace this boy as my son, am I betraying the memory of the child that I lost?” Why is it happening is a question, but that’s not the central theme of every single episode.

Was LOST an influence at all?

Tara Butter: Absolutely. I don’t think you can do a show like this without having some influence. I feel very strongly that this show shouldn’t be more than 13 episodes a season, because my favorite seasons of LOST were the shorter seasons because they could be so much more.

Michele Fazekas: When you’re building these continuous storyline episodes, you can’t jump around; you have to sort of build them in order. And if you change something back here, it sort of affects this. So that’s why we really liked having a smaller number of episodes. You can really craft it and be smart about it, versus just kind of filling space.

Are you worried the show may be too personal for some people?

Michele Fazekas: There’s something interesting about men with this show. I showed my husband just the trailer for it, and he’s like, “That looks great! I will never watch that show.” Because it really does get to you.

Does the show mainly stay in Arcadia or spread out across the country?

Michele Fazekas: We focus on just Arcadia for those eight episodes. We have certainly planned more and there’s a cliffhanger at the end of the season that hopefully makes people want to come back for the second season. Jacob’s like a stone that’s thrown into a pond and the kind of ripple effects he has upon his return and how it affects Fred and Maggie’s relationship upon his return. These characters are all affected by his return in different ways, some good and some bad.

Be sure to watch episode 2 of Resurrection TONIGHT on ABC!

Watch Resurrection on ABC Sundays at 9/8c

11 thoughts on “ABC’s ‘Resurrection’ Brings Back that ‘Lost’ Feeling to TV”

  1. im glad you like this,,,but I do not plan to watch it,,it is too personal for me,,I lost my baby brother to Cancer in May 2012,,he was the only boy and the pride an Joy of us all,,he was 52 when he died,,I still cant talk about him without going to pieces,,we were so close,,lived within blocks of each other,,he lived next door to our Mom,,who passed 11months before he died,,he wouldn’t talk about death at all it was the elephant in the room,,we knew was there but didn’t discuss it,,,I talked to him everyday on the phone,an saw him almost everyday,I cant even go to the gravesite,,only been once and couldn’t drive myself home afterward,,,it is the most horrifying experience ive ever gone thru,,,his little grandson was born 10 days before he died,,,anyway,,,to watch this I think would tear me all to pieces,,,even watching the ads have been rough,,,I didn’t watch lost just because it came on too late,,so im not seeing the connection to being lost an being brought back from the dead,,im glad you will enjoy watching it,,,but I don’t think I can

    Reply
    • Aw, I’m so sorry to hear that, Vickie. That’s really awful and your brother was still so young. 🙁 I totally understand how this show can be super upsetting. We actually discussed that a bit with the executive producers of the show during our interview. As for the LOST connection, well the whole “mood” of both shows is real mysterious and eerie, and death/purgatory plays a larger role in LOST’s overall story.

      Reply
  2. I’m going to have to start tuning into this show. I’m not too behind yet to be able to catch up. I enjoyed Lost so I’d probably enjoy this, too!

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