If you’ve missed out on the beginning of this series, which is airing on CBS, Harper’s Island has a relatively simple premise.  A local boy and his fiancée have decided to have their wedding on this island off the coast of Seattle.  This poor little island with a tiny, tight knit population was the unfortunate site of a series of murders seven years ago, one of which was the mother of the local boy’s best friend, Abby.  Poor Abby.  It seems like a rather interesting idea, because you just know with this setup, it’s going to start all over again.

Episode one shows some random uncle getting sliced and diced in the blades of the engine of the ferry taking everyone from the mainland to lovely Harper’s Island.  Unfortunately, nobody seems to give a shit that Uncle Nobody has vanished and not even bothered showing up to the wedding.  Let’s just give his wedding gift to someone else! Yay!

People start being picked off shortly, and as the viewer, you’re rather glad they are.  I have never been subjected to a cast of more insipid, annoying twits in my life.  They’re like every snobby, rich, dumbass stereotype of rich people ever portrayed on television amplified one hundred fold.  You just want them to die.  Painfully.  Two or three times for having to listen to them talk.  You start cheering on the killer, and hoping he kills off Muffy #4 for having this annoying little yip dog she carries around everywhere and ties obnoxious little bandannas on.  Which he does, by trapping her in a pit, pouring gasoline on her, and then lighting her on fire.  Go killer!

That is not to say there haven’t been one or two people you didn’t really want to see killed get caught up in the slaughter unfortunately.  One being the local priest, another being the semi-cool uncle, and the third being the token goth girl with issues because her mom was killed by the old serial killer too. 

What’s really annoying is this is a short run series, and they’re about halfway through the run, is that the local sheriff, who was around during the original slayings where his wife was one of the murdered, hasn’t noticed people missing and with a slight case of death yet.  Well, except the goth girl, who they found hung in her house, but they think she killed herself.  The wedding guests that are dead, they’re just assuming went home.  Does nobody on this supposedly tight knit island actually notice when one of their own community vanishes for days on end?  That makes no sense.  You can’t tout this as a selling point of the place and then go on like this for this long with nobody noticing even the locals are gone.  That’s ridiculous.

I thought the mini-series at least had some promise at the beginning, but as episodes have aired, this thing is just a waste of time and a cruel joke.  I’m not sure if this is a case of the plot having a failure, or the total point of the series.  To keep you glued to the television, screaming at the people to stop being so damned stupid.  Do yourself a favor and run away screaming.  And cheer on the killer wiping everyone off the face of the island.