Television Review: Reunion

I was intrigued by the new TV show on Fox, Reunion. The premise of the show is that a murder has been committed among a group of six friends, all of whom graduated from high school together in 1986. Now, in 2005, one of them has been killed, and the other five are apparently the suspects. But the show doesn't focus simply on the murder mystery set today. Instead, each week of the show is set in a different year, starting in 1986. The conceit is that the viewers will get to see the lives of these six friends unfold throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, until finally, in the episode set in 2005, the mystery will be solved.

I was predisposed to like this show for one main reason: I graduated from high school in 1987. Although that's a year off from the characters in the show, it's close enough that in some way, this show should be about my generation. I was hoping to see my cultural touchstones projected onto the screen. I was also hoping perhaps to see the lives of me and my friends projected onto the screen as well, even though I knew better.

Well, the show doesn't quite work.

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