Created by Marti Noxon and John McLaughlin
Written by Marti Noxon, Andrea Newman, Jenny Lynn, Robert Doherty and others
Starring Elisabeth Harnois, Grant Show, Sam Page, Dina Meyer, Richard Burgi, Susan Walters, Aubrey Dollar, Cameron Richardson, Claire Carey, Brent Weber and Alex Carter
Point Pleasant looks like a nice place. And, on the surface, that’s exactly what it is - a nice, safe, sleepy costal enclave. It’s a place that carefully guards its sheen of respectability and hides away its secrets. That is, until the arrival of Christina Nickson, pulled out of the sea by Jesse Parker during a ferocious freak storm that suddenly hits the coastline without prior warning.Christina is the “child of darkness”. She has a strange pull on those with genuine goodness in their hearts (Jesse, Judy Kramer) and repels those who harbour feelings of bad intent (Paula Hargrove, Terry Burke). Her emotions affect everyone around her, bringing out the worst in those who have secrets to hide. As these secrets start to manifest themselves the people in Christina’s immediate sphere of influence become increasingly aware of her strange power and they begin to reject her, withdrawing their love and faith and pushing her away. This rejection fuels her destructive power in an increasing and vicious cycle of mistrust, fear and hostility.
Lucas Boyd: “She’s the child of darkness, and she’s under His protection now. She’s His daughter.”
Kingston Nickson: “She’s also the daughter of a woman. That means she has a choice. And she takes after her mother… always has. She’ll never be what you want her to be, not as long as she has that good heart.”
Lucas Boyd: “Which is precisely why you have to let her go… see how long that good heart survives. Let the world have its way with her. Once it does I can guarantee you she will bring it to its knees.”
Okay, to start things off, let’s take a very brief look at the main cast of characters.Christina Nickson is the mysterious girl who is rescued from drowning by Jesse Parker. When flooding on the roads prevents Jesse from getting to the local hospital, he takes Christina to the home of Dr Ben Kramer, who notices that she has a strange flaw in her right iris, something she describes as a birthmark. The Kramer family take her in while she recuperates from her ordeal. Christina claims that she accidentally fell overboard during an end-of-term excursion with other students from her exclusive New York private school. Her father spends most of his time out of the country on business and cannot be directly contacted. She has never known her mother.
Jesse Parker is the son of Sheriff Logan Parker and his wife Sarah, who works in the administration office at St Martin’s, a Catholic Church in nearby Orange Grove. Sarah refers to Jesse as a “miracle”. Jesse is a lifeguard at the beach during the summer recess. He’s an all-round really nice guy who finds himself inexplicably drawn to Christina from the very first moment he spots her out in water during the storm.
Judy Kramer is the daughter of Dr Ben Kramer and his wife Meg. She’s something of a loner who can’t wait to get out of Point Pleasant after she graduates. She is viewed with suspicion by the in-crowd, who dismiss her as a loser and a freak. The Kramer family has been in a prolonged period of mourning since the death of the other daughter Isobel in a surfing accident two years earlier. Judy sees Christina as a kindred spirit and persuades her parents to let her stay with them. Christina becomes a focus for the family and this initially seems to pull them out of the ennui caused by tragic events that have surrounded and consumed them.
Paula Hargrove is Jesse’s girlfriend. She is queen of the in-crowd. She takes after her mother and is used to always getting her own way. She displays immediate antipathy towards Christina because of Jesse’s attraction to her, but she is also the first person to realise that something about Christina’s presence will lead to dire consequences for all those around her.
“You won’t be happy until everyone worships you.”
Paula is the subject of one of my favourite lines of dialogue in the show. Christina expresses concern for her after she and Jesse split-up. Judy isn’t convinced.
Christina: “Maybe she’s really hurt.”
Judy: “Please! That girl’s too skinny to feel pain!”
Terry Burke has been Jesse’s best friend since they were little. His background is not as affluent as that of his friends. He has the burden of looking after his father, who is suffering from a terminal illness that has left him in a coma. Terry spends most of his time hitting on Paula behind Jesse’s back. He is honest enough to admit to himself that he is not a good person and he tells Paula she is just like him.
Lucas Boyd is an emissary of Christina’s “real father”. He comes to Point Pleasant to ensure that her destiny is fulfilled. As he reminds Kingston Nickson, they will both spend eternity being sodomised in the fiery pits of Hell if they fail. He manipulates those around Christina who are weakest of spirit and most easily bent to his will, although he also targets Sarah Parker because of her connection to the church.
Dr Ben Kramer is the father of Judy. He is a typical small-town doctor, viewed as a paragon of virtue. He would appear to think of himself as a knight in shining white armour, putting the needs of others above those of his own family. However, there is something amiss in his marriage, with suggestions that he has been less than truthful to his wife in the past, although it would appear that he genuinely loves his family and cares deeply about them.
Meg Kramer suffered an almost complete emotional shut down following the death of her daughter Isobel. She is only able to function ‘normally’ as a result of heavy doses of medication. The arrival of Christina gives her a new focus. Meg seems to increasingly view Christina as a substitute for her dead daughter. However, when Meg stops taking her medication she becomes afflicted by a series of frightening hallucinations.
Amber Hargrove is rich and successful, a powerful presence in local business. She is also a sexual predator, a fading prom queen. Lucas Boyd preys on her vanity and her obsessive need to always get what she wants and she becomes a key figure in his scheme to ensure that Point Pleasant plays its part in the prophecies foretelling the End of Days. Amber is Paula Hargrove’s mother.
Sheriff Logan Parker and Sarah Parker have long kept secret the cracks in their marriage caused by the fact that Logan is not the father of Jesse, something Jesse does not know, although he has a strained relationship with his dad. The cracks begin to come to the surface after the arrival of Lucas Boyd, who immediately targets Sarah. Logan is ostensibly a good man, but he is prone to feelings of extreme jealousy, broods over a life unfulfilled, for which he inwardly blames Sarah, and finds it increasingly difficult to control his temper. Sarah looks to the church and her faith to find strength and guidance.
Father Thomas is the trainee priest at St Martin’s. He knows something of the old religious storytelling and prophecies about a girl, the daughter of darkness, who will come to Point Pleasant and bring forth the End of Days. He believes Christina’s mother (“A Woman of God”) is the key to breaking the influence that her father has over her.
Christina has a small box containing a few artefacts that belonged to her mother, including a couple of old and faded photographs. Her mother, Anne Gibson, once sang in the choir at St Martin’s. She was a devoutly religious person whose father was the groundskeeper at the church. We discover that Christina was given to a group of mysterious men when she was born and it would seem that she has grown up in a lonely and entirely patriarchal environment. Kingston Nickson, the man she believes to be her father, was a distant figure in her life, constantly abroad on business. She was, to all intents and purposes, brought up by his ‘assistant’ Harland. Lucas Boyd: “Do you have any idea how many signs and texts name that sleepy town as the greatest coming of evil since the Angels fell from Heaven? No, that place is her training ground. And then… we’ll unleash her on the rest of the world.”
Kingston Nickson: “You never told me that.”
Lucas Boyd: “Because her real father calls the shots… and I answer to him.”
Kingston Nickson: “These signs… did they say anything about Christina’s mother?”
Lucas Boyd: “Her mother was an innocent God-fearing… whatever. It’s unimportant. She’ll take after her father, I guarantee it.”
Kingston Nickson: “How has Christina shut out the darkness in her life all these years? There is something pure in her. If she finds Anne… really finds faith…”
Lucas Boyd: “Then we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Episodes
1.1 Pilot
1.2 Human Nature
1.3 Who’s Your Daddy?
1.4 The Lonely Hunter
1.5 Last Dance
1.6 Secrets And Lies
1.7 Unravelling
1.8 Swimming With Boyd
1.9 Waking The Dead
1.10 Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Choked
1.11 Missing
1.12 Mother’s Day
1.13 Let The War Commence
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