• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Sep 30, 2012 By Lily Moayeri Web Exclusive

Jane (Rachael Taylor, Charlie’s Angels) and Henry (Dave Annable, Brothers and Sisters), a young couple on the verge of starting their grown-up life together, become the resident managers of the historic Drake apartment building in New York City’s Upper East Side. The Drake’s owner, Gavin (Terry O’Quinn, Lost) and his wife Olivia (Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty) quickly become falsely close with Jane and Henry, their lives overlapping to an uncomfortable degree.

Everything about 666 Park Avenue is unnerving. With all its ornate beauty, it feels like the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. And it acts like the graveyard in Pet Sematary. Swallowing up its residents and stealing their belongings, The Drake is the strongest character on 666 Park Avenue. When the elevator attacks resident fashion photographer Louise (Mercedes Mahsön) by slamming its door into her repeatedly, there is an Exorcist-like unruliness to its assault that her playwright-cum-voyeur husband Brian (Robert Buckley, One Tree Hill) cannot handle. Probably because he’s thinking with his wife out of commission he can focus on the hottie Alexis (Helena Mattsson) across the street he’s been staring at instead of writing his play. Sinister and mysterious as the building is, Gavin is equally as unsettling with his mob-like demands of offing people from his residents in return for them getting their loved ones back.

If this all sounds a bit confusing it’s because 666 Park Avenue is purposely keeping viewers in the dark during the pilot, doling out just enough little snippets of horror to keep you coming back for an answer. 666 Park Avenue is the kind of show that relies on too much mystery for returning viewership. This is usually because the show doesn’t have enough substance to back up its patchy storyline. The cast is marquee level. That, along with the pervading darkness of The Drake might be enough to keep you tuning in. (www.abc.go.com/shows/666-park-avenue)

Author rating: 4/10