No ‘Whispers’ to shout about
TO ITS credit, “The Whispers” gets better by the end of the first episode.
Unfortunately, it also shows signs of hurtling toward more complications than we need.
The show kicks off with creepy little Harper (Abby Ryder Fortson) playing a game with an imaginary friend who has the unpromising name “Drill.”
The game involves doing something very bad to Mommy.
While there are undoubtedly viewers who would like to spend the summer with Chucky, it’s just as likely that most viewers think “Under the Dome” is about as disturbing as they’d like their summer TV to get.
“The Whispers,” based on a 1951 Ray Bradbury story called “Zero Hour,” wisely moves quickly to add other plot lines.
These include unexplained forces of nature — no big surprise, considering Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers.
Meanwhile, FBI child specialist Claire Bennigan (Lily Rabe) is called in to question Harper.
Claire’s got a few issues of her own. She had an affair that killed her marriage, and then her husband was literally killed, it seems, when his military plane crashed.
That’s when the unexplained forces start to arrive. Claire’s husband’s plane turns up 4,000 miles from where it was thought to have crashed, with no sign of a body.
It’s up to Claire to start making connections, while convincing skeptical partner Jessup Rollins (Derek Webster) that they need to take some initiative in the Drill matter.
All this may be more trouble than it’s worth for most viewers. For those who stay, Rabe helps keep things watchable.