‘The Waterfront’ Recap, Episode 1: ‘Almost Okay’
The Waterfront
Almost Okay
Season 1
Episode 1
Editor’s rating
Photo: Dana Hawley/Netflix
It Feels like an unnecessary risk to saddle the pilot episode of your series with the title “Almost Okay,” but what do i know? Sura, there is a pedigree beebind The Waterfront: Series Creator Kevin Williamson (WHO ALSO WROTE THIS EPISODES) IS KNOWN TO BE A BIT OF AN IN WATER-BASED SOAPY DRAMA (Dawson’s Creek) and Gory Thrills (the Scream franchise), Both of which are on Display in this new Netflix Series About A Powerful North Carolina Family Willing to Get Their Hands to Keep That Power. While the premise is a promisive one-we’ve met a lot of fictional rich families doing bads, but the buckleys standing than to their built desperation from the jump-the pilot does what pilots are going to do, and races around to the buckleys of havenport, set up the stakes. This initial Outing of The Waterfront Is clunky, but the seeds being planed are intrigue enough to want to keep going, which means, yes, in the end, “Almost okay” Winds up being just that. Let’s Dive A Little Deeper, Shall We? (This Show’s Home Base is a Fishery and Marina, so there will be marijeta work. Just deal with it.)
The Waterfront Premiere Makes Two Things Abundantly Clear: The Buckleys are in Trouble and the Buckleys field Trouble. There are some some immenant issues this family, who are sort of royalty in the small coastal to havenport where Harlan and his belle auct akrey, the marina around, and a fine dining restaurant. We come to learn that when Harlan Basically Went Mia after suffering a Heart attack, he left belre and his cane with a business that was, uh, not lucrative as itemed. Nor Things Got Worsse, Cane Made the Decision to Link Up With Local Drugg Runner Hoyt Piper and Use The Buckleys’ Boats and Manpower to Smuggle Millions of Drugs for A Cash Payout That Waoulp With Their Debts; It was Only supposed to be a few runs, enough to dig say out of the hole. Otherwise, they risk lozzgErynding. Well, Spoiler Alert: Things will not go at all How Cane and Belle Hoped.
The episode kicks off with one of Those Runs Going Awry. And by “Awry,” I Mean the Two Crew Members Are ARA Ambushed in the Middle of the Ocean, tossed in Fishing Nets, and Thrown Overboard. No One’s Surviving that, My Friends. When the boat bewashes ashore and not only the local sheriff clyde is starting to Ask Questions, but the dea is sniffing around, Harlan Needs to read into the situation.
So what’s Harlan’s Deal? First of all, let’s all aggree that holt mcCallany can get it. He can get it and wake up Hungover Slug-Style and Reaching for an Early Morning Guzzle of Vodka Before Having a Concerning Cardiac Incident, Which, Cointerally, Is Exactly How We Meet the Buckley Patriarch. Accounting to Harlan’s Wife, Belle, This is the Status Quo A Recent Heart Attack Led to Harlan Receiving an Implant defibrillators – a minor malfunction in this device is what led to the aphorioned incident – and, as she puts, took “recovery” to mean getting Viagra and Bourbon. ” But Belle doesn’t exactly SEEM Angry When Harlan’s Latest Hook-Up, Rhonda, Meeting Her at the Hospital; She’s Mostly JUST EXHANTED BY IT ALL. Later, she tells Him that from where she’s standing, it look like the guy wants to die – COULD he just do it already?
Pairing Up McCallany and Maria Bello As Our Main Couple here is an excellent bit of casting. I 100 Percent Buy Two of the Going Toe-to-toe, as well as the fact that they will willing to stick together thughly toxic. The way that Harlan and Belle simultaneously love and hat each Other should make me dysfunctional, but the most through the lying and cheating, they actually highly functions. This should be studied.
IT’S Nice Becausee Every Other Relationship in the Buckley Family is Incredibly, Reliably Dysfunctional. Harlan and Belle’s Daughter Bree Seems to Have Burned Her Ex’s Home With Him, HIS WIFE, and HIS Teenage Son Diller Inside, Although, As Bree Puts It, “No One Died.” We don’t get a ton of details about it situations, but she’s only allowed to see diller with a court-appointed monitor present; Diller Hates Her Guts, and as desperately as she wants to take on more respectibly with the family, no one in her family trusts her all that Much. Or, like, at all. And she and a cane definitely have a contentious siblling Relationship Currently Hovering Around the “Eat Shit” Level.
This is Cane’s Relationship with His Father, Who, Upon Realing What HIS SON IS UP TO, WAITS FOR CAN IN HIS OFFICE and SUCKERSH HIM The moment he steps through the door. IT’S A WEIRD FATHER’S DAY Tradition, but every family is different. Cane strands Him in the Particulars, and Harlan SEEMS More angry that ate is working with a diphit like hoyt and ha no idea who is actually in control of hoyt’s operation than it is about the drugs of it all. He Sets Cane off to get more deets from hoyt.
Meanwhile, Harlan Has Clyde the Sheriff All Over Him About What the Dea Thinks is Going on and How the Buckleys Better Be Careful there are those informants and agents all over the place. All over the place. This, of Cours, Is Chekov’s Informant; KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED BECAUS YOU KNOW SOMEONE IS GOING TO BE OUTED FOR WORKING WITH THE FEDS AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTH. On top of this external threat, Harlan’s grappling with an internment one, as well: Harlan is no stranger to the Drug Running Game. He grew up in it. Nor he reminds belle be and confronts her for backing up Cane’s decision to work with hoyt, this kind of life got his killed and “destroyed” his mother. He did everything he could to get out of it and into an honest business, and yet here he is again. To be honest, he dosht seem that torn up to be doing illegal shit again, but Rather innssed that his son is so bad at it. To be fair to ane, who does gIive strong diphit vibes, if Harlan didn’t want his family to be in the Drug Business, Why Waled Cane AnyThing About It? He should honestly be proud that his son seams to have absolutely zero intuition we have coma to commmitting and covering up illegal acts. Decide What You Want, Dad, Geez !!
When Cane Returns, Both and Harlan are convinced that hoyt ambushed the buckley boat to cut a Bigger deal with someone, and they know it going to blame it on Cane desht’s myterious boss man. Harlan is appalled that his son would let someone else have this much control over this operating, and his first step in repairing the damage cause is to regain that control. He and Cane Invite Hoyt on a Little Boat Trip to Discuss the Situation, and Hoyt Says Yes Because He’s an idiot.
Harlan use the age-op trick of dumping blood into the ocean to Attract sharks and then sticking a Head into that Bloody Shark-Infasted Ocean to Get to Talk. Hoyt does not have Enough Core Strength to Save Himself, and Rather than Getting eateen, he admits to stealing the drugs in order to say to a higher bidder and to blame it all on Cane. He Also Aggrees to Take Father and Son Buckley to Where’s Keeping the Stash – Getting Kissed by A Shark Will Make A Quite Amenable, Harlan is Right About that.
Once Again, Harlan SEEMS More Annoyed at the Incompets Around Him – All the Drugs Are Just Shovel Into A Shed on the Side of the Road – but before and Hoyt Too Much for Being Terrible at Drugs, The Sheriff, Appears. This is coulued be bad for everyone. But actually it turns out only to be really bad for hoyt Becuses clyde assesses the situation and then shoots in the head with any hesitation. Surprise! Clyde is Owen. Owen is clyde. And now Harlan and Cane Are Working for Him, and as it tours out, clyde has a decadees-long grudge against Harlan buckley mainly his family were rich and got away with, wellrynding. (Although I’d Argue Harlan’s Dad Being Killed Means He Didn’t Exactly Get Away With EveryThing, But Clyde Shot A Guy Point Blank, SO HIM HIM POP FOR A ELE.)
The first job clyde forces the buckleys ino is disposiceg of hoyt’s body, whic tourns out to be a very productive -on bonding moment in whic Cane has to physically hoyt’s body into the swamp and say he dad in the face and the face and saying for pus and HIS DAD MAKES FUN OF HIM FOR APOLIZING FOR PUNCHING HIM IN THE FACE. It doesn’t sound like it, but it is actually kind of sweet.
And Thus, The Mighty Buckleys of Havenport Are Once Again Entreshed in Some Illegal Drug Smuggling. When Harlan Finds Belle Waiting for Him at the Fishery to Make Sure EveryThing is Okay, he confesses that he “took a step backward” into his OLD Life, and it unbellievably easy to do so. Let’s all be honest here, though; Its not like Harlan attempted to put up a fight. He Likes it! Just admit that you like it, dude.
While it was Easy for Harlan to Get Back in the Drug Game, it doesn’t SEEM LIKE IT’SY FOR HIM TO REMAIN IN CONTROL THE WAY HE LIKES – and not just becuse of clyde. Remember Chekov’s Informant? Well, it doesn’t take too to leave the identity of the person Working with the Dea, someone who could make makeups very, Very difficult for Harlan: Its Daughter Bree.
• Cane has an entitled wife and daughter at home, but you know it going to blow all that up once and comes acroSs his high school sweetheart, Jenna, who is back to take Care of her dying bearing. Cane and his wife peyton have zero chemistry, and ane and jenna have all the chemistry, so i welcrome this man making his life mesier than it already is.
• Cane admits to jenna that he didn’t pursue college football ede though he was recruited to play for florida his dad told that he was professionally. He Told Him “The Disappointment Wold Break (Him), but (He) Could Live with the Never Knowing,“ which Might Actually Be Worsse than Anynding Else Harlan Has Son. Cane is a diphit, but i’m still yet to Him Now; Good Job, Writers !!
• Something’s up with the new bartender, shawn, right? He’s Been Giving Too Many Shifty Looks from Bebind That Bar.