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DVD Review: American Gothic: The Complete Series
By HammerFanatic
Nov 22, 2005, 22:07

Universal released the cult classic TV series, American Gothic to DVD, ten years after it first hit CBS and after years of fans screaming for a DVD release.

When I was asked about American Gothic, before sitting down to watch and review the discs/series, I must admit, I hadn't even heard of this series! How embarrassing when I thought it might be a set of U.S. films with a 'Gothic' look and feel to them. The discs arrived in the mail and I sat down to watch the series having no idea what I might be in for. Granted, I don't have a whole lot of confidence in most series that are put out and since I was working second shift at the time American Gothic was initially released to network TV, I was totally clueless. I was advised that I might enjoy the series, so I decided to go into this with as open a mind as I possibly could. Needless to say, after viewing the series and doing some talking to family and friends as well as checking thoughts about the series, online, I can definitely see why American Gothic garnered a major following....it's a very well made series! Most people might not expect Shaun Cassidy to be involved in anything like American Gothic, but as creator and a writer of the series, I was pleasantly surprised to see Cassidy is quite capable of offering a wonderfully bizarre world of entertainment. Produced by Sam Rami, American Gothic offers some definite creepy moments and it's actually a shame that the series didn't last longer.

Set in the South Carolina town of, Trinity, Sheriff Lucas Buck (Gary Cole) is not your average small-town Sheriff. The man oozes evil, but only if you cross him or question him....if you simply go with the flow, Sheriff Lucas Buck is as good a friend as you could ask for. We meet young Caleb Temple (Lucas Black) on the night of his tenth birthday. Caleb's father, Gage Temple (Sonny Shroyer) appears to be in a drunken rage and his rage is aimed at Caleb's older sister, Merlyn (Sarah Paulson). Merlyn appears to be in a catatonic state and sits at the table mumbling, 'Someone's at the door', over and over. Reaching his boiling/breaking point, Gage finally snaps at Merlyn's constant rants and Caleb drags his sister into a room to avoid his rampaging father. Once locked into a bedroom, Caleb escapes from a window, telling Merlyn to stay put and not to open the door. Racing through the woods, Caleb suddenly comes face to face with Sheriff Buck. The Sheriff tells young Caleb there will be no more running and he and his Deputy head to the Temple home. What takes place next is unsettling, as we see through the Deputy's eyes that Sheriff Buck handles things in his own unique way and not necessarily by the book. Meryln is murdered and Gage Temple is taken into custody for the murder of his daughter. Caleb is taken to the local hospital where he comes under the care of a northern Dr., Matt Crower (Jake Weber). We find that the good Dr and the Sheriff don't see eye to eye and with just a short conversation, we find that Dr. Cower has some of his own demons he's battling. When the story of Merlyn's murder breaks, a relative (Paige Turco) of Caleb's makes her way to town to take custody of young Caleb......something Sheriff Buck is simply not going to stand for. Throughout the remainder of the first episode, we see some of the puzzle come together. Sheriff Buck is the cause of plenty of heartache in the Temple family.....a very young Merlyn saw Buck rape her mother and as a result, simply fell into a catatonic state. Following the birth of Caleb, his mother committed suicide and gaining control of Caleb is tops on the priority list of Sheriff Buck, as he feels Caleb is the result of his rape of Caleb's mother. Through some pretty good special effects, Caleb is warned that indeed, 'someone is at the door' of his hospital room and the young boy escapes. Once back in his own home, Merlyn appears to Caleb and opens his eyes to some of the horrors of her life as well as that of his mother's. Then, just when you think young Caleb's life can't get a whole lot worse, his father dies in prison.....Happy Birthday, Caleb!

The remaining episodes of this series are all very well-written and extremely entertaining. I really didn't find a weak episode and can easily see myself revisiting American Gothic quite often. Now, the best part of this collection is probably the four unaired episodes of the series. Now, one shortcoming of this set might also be that the four unaired episodes are simply placed at the end of the final disc. No real reason is given to why these episodes never aired, but perhaps episode content had something to do with it, but beyond speculation, there's no real reason given.

I must say the acting of Gary Cole really blew me away. I've seen Cole in a few things, but was never overly impressed with him, not to say the man doesn't have talent, but I don't believe most series or films he's been in has really offered him an opportunity to really showcase his talent, like American Gothic did. I must admit, one of my favorite scenes is from the pilot episode, when Sheriff Buck makes his way to the cell of Gage Temple and he's whistling the theme to the Andy Griffith Show! Lucas Black is also very impressive in his role as Caleb and from what I've read and heard, this actor is still impressing fans with his work. I think a lot of the credit can also go to the writing and producing of the series. Shaun Cassidy and Sam Rami have definitely impressed me with this body of work and I'd be interested in seeing what other projects Cassidy might be working at.

When watching, American Gothic, you can put it down as simple as, 'Good vs Evil', but there really is a lot more to that and I'd really recommend checking this series out, as it crosses several genres and crosses them, well! The characters were well developed and the stories never became boring or 'fillers', it was no effort to sit and watch two or three episodes in a row and still feel the desire to watch more in one sitting.

Shaun Cassidy does give a nice commentary for the pilot episode and there are some deleted and extended scenes, but nothing of mind-shattering significance is revealed in any of those scenes. Here's the episode list as placed on the collection of three discs:

01) Pilot

02) A Tree Grows In Trinity

03) Eye of the Beholder

04) Damned If You Don't

05) Dead to the World

06) Meet the Beetles

07) Strong Arm of the Law

08) Rebirth

09) Resurrector

10) Inhumanitas

11) The Plague Sower

12) Doctor Death Takes a Holiday

13) The Beast Within

14) To Hell and Back

15) Learning to Crawl

16) Triangle

17) The Buck Stops Here

18) Requiem

19) Potato Boy (Unaired)

20) Ring of Fire (Unaired)

21) Echo of Your Last Goodbye (Unaired)

22) Strangler (Unaired)

If you tend to be a fan of TV series that don't always follow the rules of TV, then you might want to check this series out. It's entertaining, well written, well acted and may just have you wishing for more episodes!

Buy American Gothic: The Complete Series on DVD at Amazon.com