Gracepoint

Gracepoint may not be superior to Broadchurch, but makes its own mark as fall’s best new broadcast network drama series--even if in some ways it’s not. Tennant’s estimable talents are the driving force of both versions, with each of the surrounding casts helping to keep him on point.

Even with an occasional made-for-TV-movie flatness, Gracepoint seems poignant and complex and even frightening enough to sustain interest all over again.

Gracepoint is a good show--not great, but good.

Realizing that my pleas for viewers to seek out the original will only go so far, I'll say that after watching the first seven episodes of Gracepoint, it's worth a look. If it's your first look. Otherwise, perhaps not. It takes many episodes for the plot ever to diverge, and for the most part, any changes aren't for the better. (And that's especially true for most of the casting.)

Through seven episodes there is nothing wildly different about the two shows, but Gracepoint has a facsimile’s faded quality. Something about it is less sharp, less bright, less keen, and you are left with a washed-out flier you have seen before.

The 10-part limited series is a serviceable mystery-slash-melodrama about small-town life, small-town minds and small-town secrets, but nothing really to write home about.

A weird photocopy containing little atmosphere and less emotional resonance.