Reunion (TV series)

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Reunion

The cast of Reunion.
Genre Drama
Creator(s) Jon Amiel
Jon Harmon Feldman
Starring Will Estes
Amanda Righetti
Dave Annable
Sean Faris
Alexa Davalos
Chyler Leigh
Mathew St. Patrick
Country of origin USA
No. of episodes 13
Production
Running time approximately 1:00
Broadcast
Original channel FOX
Original run September 8, 2005 – December 15, 2005
Links
IMDb profile

Reunion was an American television series on FOX in late 2005. The series was intended to chronicle 20 years in the lives of a group of six high school friends from Bedford, New York, with each episode following one year in the lives of the six, beginning with their high school graduation year 1986. Each episode also featured scenes in the present where Detective Marjorino (Mathew St. Patrick) is investigating the brutal murder of one of the group during the night of their 20-year class reunion in 2006. The identity of the murder victim (Sam) was not revealed until the fifth episode, "1990".

Due to low ratings, the series was canceled after only nine episodes (four more episodes had been ordered but were not aired), and the identity of the killer remained unrevealed in the aired episodes.

Contents

[edit] Characters and plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • Craig Brewster: the spoiled son of real estate mogul Russell Brewster and future politician.
  • Samantha Carlton: Craig's high school sweetheart and wife.
  • Will Malloy: Craig's best friend, Sam's secret admirer, and the father of Sam's secret daughter Amy. In early episodes we learn that Will is a priest in the present time.
  • Aaron Trumbull: slight geek who left MIT to sell technology and start an Internet company in its early days that blossoms to a multi-million dollar company. His marriage to Pascal is compromised by his obvious lifelong affection for Carla.
  • Carla Noll: Aaron's best friend and hidden secret admirer for years, who entered into an abusive relationship with Amy's adopted father as Amy's nanny, and an aspiring photographer.
  • Jenna Moretti: The "hot girl" who enjoyed 15 minutes of fame in the late 80s/early 90s as an actress before moving back to New York and attempting to get her life back on track.

Each episode also features scenes in the present where Detective Kenneth Marjorino (Mathew St. Patrick) is investigating the brutal murder of one of the group during the night of their 20-year class reunion, the identity of which was not revealed at the start of the season. Although his motives are initially secret, viewers quickly learn that Marjorino has harbored a 20-year grudge against Will Malloy, Craig Brewster, and their friends for what he perceives to be unfulfilled justice for the death of his father in a car accident that also involved a car occupied by Will and Craig (both of whom had been drinking that night). Although he maintains his composure, it becomes apparent that Marjorino is letting the case consume his life.

Each year viewers are introduced to additional minor characters who may or may not have significant impact in the past. These include Amy, the secret child of Will and Sam; Meghan, her adoptive mother; Paul, her adoptive father and future abusive lover of Carla; Peter, Carla's future husband; Pascal, Aaron's one night stand and eventual wife; Chloe, their love child; Noelle, their second child; Henry, Sam and Craig's son; and Rachel, a former secretary of Craig Brewster with whom he had an affair early in his marriage to Sam and who resurfaces in an attempt to ruin both of their lives. The show was cancelled prior to the addition of another significant minor character: Katherine, the daughter of a rival Congressman of Craig Brewster and future fiance of Will Malloy.

[edit] Other plotlines

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • In "1988," viewers learn Marjorino's connection to the friends: his loving father was the driver who died in the car crash involving Will and Craig in 1986. Marjorino harbors intense feelings of injustice and largely believes that his father's killer has murdered the deceased friend. Originally vindictive towards Will, he soon turns his attention to Craig.
  • In the fifth episode, "1990" (first aired November 10, 2005) it was revealed that Samantha is the character that was killed.
  • In "1992," it was revealed that the present day Craig Brewster, who relies on a wheelchair for movement, is actually not paralyzed and can walk.
  • In "1992," it was revealed that a younger Marjorino in fact plotted to kill Will Malloy for the murder of his father, only to be talked out of it by his future wife. In the present day, however, Marjorino's wife leaves him, disgusted that he cannot let go of revenge.
  • In "1993," it was revealed that Peter, Carla's husband, died.
  • The final aired episode, "1994," features a cliffhanger where Marjorino is run down by a car in an alley and left bloodied and injured. Leaked spoilers on the Internet have speculated that Craig and Sam's son Henry was the driver.
  • A dark secret involving Craig and Will, in which Will took the heat for a drunk driving accident when Craig was actually driving the car, since his BAC was below the legal limit. The other man involved, Marjorino's father, died after being discharged, and Will spent a year in prison and lost his lacrosse scholarship after being made an example by the legal system.
  • The love triangle between Craig, Sam, and Will, complicated by the child that only Sam knows was fathered by Will.
  • The obvious love of Carla and Aaron, who can never be on the same page at the same time.
  • Aaron's one night stand and the love child that resulted from it, leading to his marriage to her mother, Pascal.
  • Carla becoming the nanny of Will and Sam's love child, Amy, to keep Sam in her life, and her ensuing relationship with Paul, Amy's adoptive father, that quickly turns abusive.
  • Will being forced by the FBI to help bring down Russell Brewster for illegal practices, the same man who gave him a job to help rebuild his life after prison.
  • Craig's entry into politics and winning a seat on the State Assembly.
  • Jenna burning out in acting after ending her farce marriage to the gay producer who helped her build her career.
  • The tension between Carla and her future husband Peter, and Aaron and his wife Pascal, over not only their devotion to their friends, but also their devotion to each other.
  • Craig's affair with his mentally unstable secretary, Rachel.
  • The mutual attraction between Jenna and Craig.
  • Will Malloy serving in the army, entering law school, and eventually becoming Craig's campaign manager.
  • Sam's addiction to stimulants.
  • Sam's belief that she accidentally killed a woman because of the stimulants she was taking.
  • Will's army friend's death and Will's affair with the friend's sister.
  • Due to the series' premature ending, the killer remained unrevealed; however, as a result of discussion between the network and writers regarding possible options as to the killer's identity, President of FOX Network hinted a guess of Amy, Sam's daughter, as the killer.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Cancellation

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Originally, Reunion was intended to last for 22 episodes, with each episode chronicling one year in the life of the six main characters—from their graduation in 1986 to the murder of one of them the day of their high school reunion in 2006. However, after a promising start[1], the show's ratings dropped, failing to hold the viewers from its lead in, The O.C., whereupon Fox announced the series would not be continued beyond the thirteen episodes already ordered.[2]

While it was speculated the cancellation might lead to a change of the format—possibly skipping or combining some years to reach 2006 and reveal the murderer by the now-final thirteenth episode—series creator Jon Harmon Feldman originally announced the show would simply end with 1998, with the identity of the murderer unrevealed.[3] However, after ratings continued to fall in December 2005, Fox announced - both in the media and on their official website - that the "1994" episode eventually would be the last, and the remaining four episodes filmed would not air. Fox later gave away outlines the episodes "1995", "1996", "1997" and "1998" to websites. On June 7, 2006, the episode "1998" was shown in many countries, but not the USA.

During the Television Critics Association press tour, FOX Entertainment president Peter Ligouri addressed reporters regarding the show's abrupt end. Ligouri stated there were severals ways to go with the killer's identity. However, "the best guess was that particular time that it was going to be Sam's daughter," whom she gave up for adoption early in the series. The reason why the murder occurred still remains a mystery.

[edit] List of episodes

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] "1986"

The show starts off by showing the funeral of the murdered character. Officer Marjoniro caught up with Carla and requested to interview her. It flashes back to 1986 when the six friends graduate from high school and have a celebration in Craig's house. During the celebration, Sam finds out that she is pregnant and tells Carla about it, explaining to her that Will is the father, not Craig. The six celebrate saying that they will be friends forever. Soon afterward, Craig drives Will home and get into a car accident. The two go the hospital and the police station, and Will says he is the driver in order to save Craig from jail. However, Will finds out that the driver of the other vehicle dies, and now Will is sentence to one year in prison for murder. Meanwhile, Sam travels to England and gives birth to Amy, but gives it up for adoption. Aaron attends MIT, but shortly thereafter drops out, while Carla stays in their native town and Jenna goes out of town to pursue her acting career.

[edit] "1987"

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[edit] "1988"

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[edit] "1989"

In this episode, it's Sam and Craig's wedding. After Craig's father got sent to prison, because Will helped the FBI, Will became Craig's enemy. Will stopped off at the church and asked Sam to go with him instead of Craig because Will still loves Sam.
Present Day: Aaron received a letter saying 'I know who killed her' and a picture of Jenna and Samantha is shown. Which one is now dead?

[edit] "1990"

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Present Day: Revealed that Samantha is the character who is murdered.

[edit] "1991"

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[edit] "1992"

The episode is about the thanksgiving day's meeting, in Craig and Sam's house. All the 6 of them appear; during the meeting, Jenna's husband tries to seduce Will, but he succeeds in his "runaway"; Vanessa breaks up with Will and Sam tells loud and clear to everybody that she already knew about Craig's affair with his secretary. The day is preety much ruined till Carla starts screaming with them and telling that she is really disappointed how things are going so wrong. 5 minutes later, the day goes back to normal and they all sit at the table and have a happy and quiet thanksgiving dinner. In the present, Marjorino's wife leaves him and we are told that Marjorino met his wife Ella, while he was waiting for Will, to murder him, since he appears to have caused Marjorino's father's death.

[edit] "1993"

This episode shed some light on the revealance of Samantha's character.We were shown how her drug use was affecting the rest of the group. The episode begins with Craig preparing and dedicating a lovely breakfast to Samantha, in celebration of her birthday. After a short talk, Craig is disappointed to find out that Samantha wont be staying for breakfast; her busy life as a resident doctor at an ER will not grant her time, barely having enough time for Craig and their son, Henry. Seconds later, Sam is almost caught by Craig taking the drugs, but is surprised he barely noticed. She finds out that he has made reservations at a restaurant to celebrate her birthday later that night.

On "PresentDay", Craig arrives on his wheel chair to Samantha's grave, and leaves a set of yellow flowers, just as he did 13 years ago. Will catches up at the grave, and shows up with a single yellow rose, dedicating it to Samantha's grave and saying "Happy Birthday Sam".

Back on "1993", Aaron and Carla are walking together down a NY street, talking and commenting about dates, love and relationship. This talk leads to their discussion into why "they" never tried the "us" factor. They discover they both have secret feelings for each other, and accept to go as a date to Samantha's party. On the ER, Samantha is treating Lucy Stevens, a patient that was on a car accident that only suffered minor cuts. As standard procedure, Samantha preescribes an antibiotic. A few hours later, she is sent back the to the ER and she dies. Sam believes this is her fault because she was on drugs at the time and skips her birthday bash. Carla meets Peter when nobody shows up to the party.

Back on "PresentDay", this stranger walks up to Craig and Will and begins affirms that "Dr. Samantha Brewster deserved to die!" It turns out to be Lucy Steven's son. He blames Sam for the death of his mother, but her husband confirms that it was not Sam's fault.

[edit] "1994"

1994: You can help by adding a summary

Present day: Detective Marjorino questions Rachel. The episodes ends in a cliffhanger after he is run over by a car.

[edit] Trivia

  • Reunion featured relevant music tracks each episode that matched up to the year of the show. Early episodes featured popular 80s tracks while later episodes featured well-known early-to-mid-90s alternative songs.
  • Although set in New York, the show was filmed in Vancouver.
  • Sean Faris and Martin Cummins previously acted together on Life As We Know It.
  • At the end of episode 13, the Brazilian channel SBT inserted a narrator telling a fictional alternative end for the drama: the killer would be Craig's father, Russell Brewster. [4]

[edit] References

  1. ^  'Reunion' Keeps Hold on 'O.C.' Viewers. URL accessed on December 9, 2005.
  2. ^  'Prison' Breaks 'til March; 'Reunion' Ending Early. URL accessed on December 9, 2005.
  3. ^  No End in Sight for 'Reunion'. URL accessed on December 9, 2005.
  4. ^  Reunion ganha final alternativo no SBT. URL accessed on October 30, 2006. (Portuguese)

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../r/e/u/Reunion_%28TV_series%29_be6a.html"
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