The Gates - Pilot Episode Recap and Impressions

Newly appointed Chief of Police Nick Monahan moves his family from bustling city Chicago to quiet suburban community The Gates. Little does he know, The Gates houses a wide variety of supernatural creatures—vampires, werewolves, and witches—all revealed in the Pilot episode. As Nick’s cop instincts in a missing person case almost lead him to a family of vampires, is he getting a bit too close for comfort?

Meet Nick Monahan, a Chicago detective who won’t rest until the case is closed, and the rest of The Gates community, each with a secret they’ll stop at nothing to protect. Having just finished watching the Pilot, all I can say is the vampire craze continues.

ABC’s The Gates is nowhere as sex-intense as HBO’s True Blood (thank god), nor is it romantic plotline filled like the CW’s Vampire Diaries. Critics are calling this a Desperate Housewives meets Vampire Diaries/True Blood, and for the most part, I agree, although I think they definitely took a leaf out of Twilight with the whole werewolf transformation thing.

Plotline wise, I feel The Gates is this interconnected, many-different-relationships-and-issues-interweaving-into-this-greater-plotline-that’s-yet-to-manifest-itself kind of show. As for me, I’ll definitely be marking this down in my calendar, although I have doubts as to the latter half of the season—with all their cards out in the open from just the Pilot, what else is there left to run on?

Some points to note:
(If you’re one of those oh-darn-why’d-you-tell-me-that’s, scroll down down down)
1. There’s still the issue of why the Monahans left Chicago in the first place, and judging from Sarah’s somewhat mysterious comment, it has to do with Nick’s detective-OCD.

2. The Radcliff family has one good-looking vampire couple, but is the daughter a vampire, too?

3. And the werewolves. I have no idea what Andie has to do with all this, but if you want eye candy, look no further than footballer/werewolf Brett Crezski. What’s the deal with him and the rest of the werewolf gang, though?

4. And last but not least, the two witches, Peg and Devon, who apparently were teacher and student, respectively, but now just have massive beef with each other.

All in all, I’ll definitely be giving this series a shot and I can’t wait for the second episode, “What Lies Beneath.” If you’re interested, you can watch this new summer series Sundays at 10:00/9:00c on ABC (or just go to Hulu like me).

Written by Lexi Tong.

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