“Point Pleasant” is another one of those Fox shows that I didn’t catch when it originally aired, and didn’t last long enough for me to watch in re-runs. AS a matter of fact, out of the 13 episodes that were shot, only 8 were aired, leaving 5 never to be seen by anyone who had gotten into the series. Until now. Fox Home Entertainment has released the entire 13 episode run in a 3-disc set. The series revolves around the small seaside community of Point Pleasant, and begins with the rescue of the mysterious Christina Nickson (Elisabeth Harnois). She is pulled from the ocean by the town’s lifeguard Jesse Parker (Sam Page) who takes her to the home of Ben Kramer (Richard Burgi), the local doctor. Christina is invited to stay at the doctor’s home while they investigate her past and attempt to find her mother, whom she never met, but knows lived in Point Pleasant.

From here, the story just gets deeper and deeper, taking on a strong supernatural slant as her presence in the town starts wreaking havoc on the local residents. Repressed feelings start coming to the surface, secrets begin to come out in the open. To make matters worse, as the mystery of Christina’s past unravels, we learn that her father may not have been… human… at all.

“Point Pleasant” turned out to be quite a ‘pleasant’ surprise after catching the entire series on DVD. Some of the executive producers turned out to be Marti Noxon (who was involved with both “Buffy” and “Angel”) and Ben Edlund (who originally created the “Tick” comic book, then went on to work on “Buffy” and “Angel”) so I should have expected the show to be interesting. And interesting it was. I found it to be extremely entertaining, in a wicked sort of way. All of the actors went just enough over the top to make their characters memorable, with no one going too, too far.

If I had been watching the series when it aired, I would have been totally hacked by its last minute cancellation. So many questions would have been left unanswered after the 8th episode. I’m so glad that there were five additional episodes created, and that they are available on this DVD set. The show could have certainly gone on lot longer, but enough of the overall plot was resolved to make watching these discs a satisfying experience.

Considering the show was yanked so quickly, I’m not surprised that there aren’t many extra features. But at least they did include a ‘Making of…’ featurette. Its pretty basic, but the interviews with the creative team behind the series was still pretty informative.

Though I wouldn’t say that “Point Pleasant” was in the same class as other supernatural shows like “Buffy” or “Angel”, it was a lot better than its early cancellation might have led you to believe.

Episodes:
Pilot
Human Nature
Who’s Your Daddy?
The Lonely Hunter
Last Dance
Secrets & Lies
Unraveling
Swimming With Boyd
Waking the Dead
Hell Hath No fury Like a Woman Choked
Missing
Mother’s Day
Let the War Commence

Extras: Making of Featurette
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Surround
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 10/25/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Point Pleasant: The Complete Series a B..