The first two Bright Falls episodes are up! The first one is called “Oh Deer.” For ease of comments we’ll put the first episode up here and do another post for the second episode.
Episode 2: Time Flies came out today as well.
I have to say, I’m personally really surprised at how good it is. Video game tie-ins don’t have a great history…and after the other Twin Peaks promise who’s name I won’t mention I was really skeptical. That’s a lot to live up to!
I see the comparisons to David Lynch (and Alan Wake’s own comparisons to the X-Files and Lost) coming through. It’s the best of everything I miss about those series – that seedy underbelly feeling of the small woodland town. A looming darkness so heavy and otherworldly that it’s oppressive. A driving mystery that challenges the audience to watch again and again.
At the same time, there’s something Bright Falls does that pushes it beyond it’s predecessors: it’s scary as hell. From the perspective of someone who basically watches horror movies for a living, I assure you that this is only paralleled by Mr. Lynch on his best days.
Bright Falls is one of those series I watch with an equal sense of excitement and hesitation. We’ve got six episodes coming at us, and right now it’s so good I can’t possibly see how they’re going to keep this momentum. Then again, I was skeptical about the video game tie-in, wasn’t I?