EDITION: U.S.
ronny yu
Fear Itself: Family Man
by Jason Hughes, posted Jun 20th 2008 1:08AM

(S01E03) Nope, this isn't Eureka, and that isn't the friendly Sheriff Carter up there. But it is Eureka's Colin Ferguson, and with Clifton Collins Jr. he has created a truly chilling installment in NBC's increasingly "must see" horror anthology Fear Itself. Well, much of the credit to the success of this episode belongs at the feet of Dan Knauf, who proved himself an absolute master of the macabre with his darkly brilliant HBO series Carnivále. He's also been a writer for Supernatural, so this stuff is clearly old hat for him.
And I'm pleased to say that the "old pro" really came through with "Family Man." Easily the best episode of the young season so far and one of the best stand-alone hours of any anthology series I think I've ever seen. Ferguson, who we've come to know and love for playing the nice guy really shines here. And due to the complexity of the story, both he and Collins get a real chance to flex their acting muscles to brilliant effect. From the chilling scenes at home to the overwhelming drama in the prison, each moment propelled the story forward. The only thing that blows me away is that director Ronny Yu, who does wonderfully here, has Freddy vs. Jason and Bride of Chucky as his horror directing pedigree.
TV Squad Hot Topics
Most Popular Articles
From Our Partners
- 'The Bachelorette' Week 3 Recap: Hello, Dolly!
- 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' Recap: High Levels of Stress, Low Levels of Interest
- 'America's Got Talent' Recap: The Hot and Cold Auditions of Tampa
- 'Top Gear' Recap: Have You Ever Had Cheese Thrown At You?
- 'Food Network Star' Recap: The Teams Get Chopped
- More From BuddyTV
- 10 Spoilers: 'Arrow' stands apart from 'Smallville,' plus 'Teen Wolf' Season 2 scoop and a new face on 'Homeland'
- Chris Hayes apologizes for not calling fallen soldiers 'heroes'
- Bethenny Frankel teases 'Bethenny Ever After' Season 3 finale
- 'Hemingway & Gellhorn's' Clive Owen: 'He was in my head every day'
- 'Hatfields & McCoys' Kevin Costner: 'Life is all about whose pig it is'
- More From Zap2it
- What to Watch: The TVLine-Up for Tuesday
- Eye on Emmy: Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam on Jax's Evolution and His Real Stance on Awards
- What to Watch: The TVLine-Up for Monday
- Mad Men Recap: A Woman's Worth
- The Idol (Less) Rich: For Jessica Sanchez, No Guaranteed Album Deal, Likely Smaller Payday
- More From TVLine
