InBetween Success & Failure
NBC’s latest paranormal crime drama The InBetween is in between being the most formulaic show on TV and one of the more interesting entries in this genre. With a wildly inconsistent episode, skipping between interesting camera angles and nicely worked twists, to following the conventions of this genre to the letter, The InBetween gets off to a bit of a shaky start, laying the groundwork for a series that could go either way going forward. The episode itself begins with Cassie, a woman out shopping when she suddenly experiences a frightening vision of a ghostly boy standing over his dead Mum; her eyes gouged out. As she snaps back to reality, she hastily snatches several bottles of alcohol in a bid, we assume, to block out these visions. When she wakes up, she goes and sees British Detective Tom Hackett, telling him she suspects the woman she sees in her vision is the same as Sharon Bell, the woman he’s currently investigating. From here the perspective changes to Tom, as we see him arrive at work and greet the new arrival to the force, rookie Damien Asante. As the woman with gouged eyes washes up on shore, we learn more about Cassie’s supernatural abilities, involving being able to communicate with the dead, predominantly in the form of a little girl called Abigail. From here the rest of the episode then dives deeper into the investigation, with a few nicely worked plot twists and a recurring theme around Peter Rabbit tying the whole thing together. As the mystery deepens, The InBetween certainly settles into its role, setting up the groundwork for some potentially interesting dynamics between characters going forward. All of this builds to the final act of the episode that leaves things wide open, with the investigation spilling over into Cassie’s house at the end while Abigail vows for revenge against the man who killed her, currently residing in prison. Despite a pretty formulaic start, The InBetween does get better as it goes along and if it can deliver with its future scripts and make good on its promise of a twisty-turny mystery then this could be a decent offering. As it stands though The InBetween is finely poised between being a completely forgettable drama and a pretty decent watch. Only time will tell which side of the coin this one falls on.