Summer TV Roundup, Week 18

It's finally happened, we're at the end of our Summer TV Roundup. But, never fear, next week begins our Fall TV Roundup including the new Amazon series, "Jack Ryan." But for now, we're still considering the offerings of summer. It's been a long, hot, and difficult summer for many, and there haven't been break-out hits. Yesterday I chronicled a couple of the bigger ones that ended their summer run. But this weekly post is all about new series, reviewing the pilot and second episode of scripted series this summer. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Streaming Series:
The Innocents, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered August 24)
About: The latest Netflix series is a co-production with the BBC and it's about as high concept as it gets. A pair of teens (Sorcha Groundsell and Percelle Ascott) run away together from their families to start a new life together. But along the way, it becomes clear that June (Groundsell) has a special ability. Like the mother who abandoned her, she can shape shift. And it seems her mother is trying to find her now, and may not have abandoned her the way she thought. There's also a plot about some kind of scientist/professor (Guy Pearce) who is studying this ability. But I only watched the first two episodes, and that was sort of unclear. I like a good genre series as much as the next guy, and I applaud Netflix for taking big swings, but this was a bridge too far for me. I thought the first two episodes were weird, and while a lot was going on I couldn't get a good handle on the plot. So this felt like a big swing and a miss for me, which is perhaps why it got dumped late summer with little fanfare.
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C-

Safe Harbour, Now Streaming on Hulu (Premiered August 24)
About: Late summer must be a time for co-productions. While Netflix grabbed one from England, Hulu turned to this four-episode series from Australia. It centers on a group of friends who were on a boat trip in the ocean when they stumbled on a vessel adrift and carrying refugees seeking to make it ashore. They decide to tow the disabled ship but, when a storm blocks their path, they turn for Indonesia. In the morning, the disabled vessel, their dingy and life jackets are all gone. Flash forward a few years, and Ryan (Ewen Leslie) has a chance encounter with one of the refugees, who's now a taxi driver. But it turns out it wasn't a chance encounter, and the refugees version of events is wildly different. While Ryan and his friends assumed the refugees cut themselves free to avoid a return home, the refugees believe they were cut free and set adrift to die at sea. And seven of them did die at sea, kicking off an investigation. It also starts a squabble between the group as they try to figure out if one of them callously cut the trailing boat free and covered it up. The first two episodes were a mix of present day and flashbacks, revealing some of the plot and some of the aftermath, but not all of it. It's mildly compelling, but I wasn't really taken strongly with any of the characters so I didn't feel totally hooked by the story. Still this is an interesting piece to add to the Hulu streaming library.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C