Sullivan's Crossing Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Coming Home
Paul Dailly
at
.
Something about Sullivan's Crossing reminds me of the good old days of The WB.
Everwood and Gilmore Girls were two of my favorite shows, and I still think it's a travesty that the former didn't get to continue when The WB merged with UPN to form The CW.
The CW was looking for a show to harken back to those good old days, so acquiring a series featuring Scott Patterson and Chad Michael Murray was a smart move.
Sullivan's Crossing Season 1 Episode 1 throws us straight into the deep end, taking us into the world of Maggie Sullivan as her life is upended and she's forced to leave her big city life behind to return home.
It isn't a groundbreaking concept by any stretch of the imagination, but it does serve up some vintage small-town drama.
The best part of "Coming Home" was its ability to make me care for all the characters.
Morgan Kohan is perfect in the lead role as we witness her world crumbling before her very eyes.
She was at the top of her game, then at the bottom again in several scenes.
Maggie's mother and stepfather's connections probably could have gotten her a decent job in Boston, but how do you bounce back from being arrested while accepting an award?
What should have been a career-high became one of the lowest moments of her life, so it's easy to understand why she rushed back to Sullivan's Crossing after years of being away.
Maggie put it perfectly when she said that people were looking at her differently.
Thanks to the public nature of her arrest, I imagine it became much more significant than it was, even if she was in the clear quickly.
People tend to remember you by the headlines than the facts, and that's just the world we live in nowadays.
Instead of due course, there's a trial by the media, so it was probably for the best that Maggie returned to her old home.
Another sticking point for Maggie was that Andrew seemed too interested in taking their relationship to the next level, leading me to believe it contributed to her decision to leave Boston.
Mrs. Markiff: Doctor! My son, Kevin Markiff, they came in together.
Maggie: You can't be here!
Mrs. Markiff: I just want to know if he's okay. Please, if you have any information...
Maggie: Your son suffered a few broken bones - but he's gonna be just fine.
Mrs. Markiff: Are you sure?
Maggie: Yes. Now, if someone can please escort Mrs. Markiff back
It seemed like Maggie was comfortable with where their relationship was, and moving in together and thinking about marriage after his divorce was finalized might have been too much too soon.
People get comfortable in their routines, and something tells me Maggie wasn't ready to take the plunge with Andrew.
She was also flat-out avoiding him in the aftermath because she wasn't ready to tell him how she felt -- or that she'd skipped town.
There wasn't much of a spark between Maggie and Andrew, and it was hard not to shake the feeling that Phoebe was instrumental in getting this relationship off the ground.
Phoebe is all about keeping up appearances, and her meddling in her daughter's life was giving overbearing momager vibes.
This is a very different role for Lynda Boyd after her excellent run on Virgin River.
It's only a matter of time before Phoebe arrives in Sullivan's Crossing and has to contend with her past while under the guise of getting her daughter back in Boston.
Andrew: Hey there.
Maggie: Andrew? What are you doing here?
Andrew: Your mother. She called in a panic, she was afraid you were gonna miss it.
Andrew: I drove the two hours from my place to yours, and I picked up all your things, and I rented a limo. You can thank me later.
Maggie's fraught relationship with Sully left me with more questions than answers, but Kohan and Patterson managed to sell this complicated dynamic very well.
There was a particular moment early in the premiere when Sully thought his daughter wouldn't even entertain the possibility of staying in a home with him.
Maybe he wanted to give her space, or perhaps he didn't think he had it in him to face up to the past, but Maggie's declaration that she wanted her old room back highlighted that she was ready to begin repairing this relationship.
The flashbacks certainly painted a picture that Sully didn't want Maggie to leave town, but it was more out of his control.
There's ambiguity about what happened in the years between that time, but it's hard to tell whether we're to believe that Sully stopped making an effort with Maggie and vice-versa.
The series wanted us to be aware of her strong bond with her stepfather, so it's hard to tell what happened all those years ago.
After realizing it was a mistake returning home, Maggie's decision to leave town, only to learn that she and the hospital are being sued for malpractice, was the perfect hook to drive the rest of Sullivan's Crossing Season 1.
Now that she knows she can't return to Boston for the foreseeable future, she must confront her relationships in Sullivan's Crossing.
That isn't going to be an easy task because Sydney and some of her other friends felt like she had abandoned them.
Sully, Sydney, and everyone else will be left wondering whether she'll up and go when the going gets tough again, and that's part of the attraction of the show.
Maggie has been absent in all these people's lives, so Connie was taken aback to learn she was Sully's daughter.
She was well aware of who Sully was because... Sullivan's Crossing. Need I say more?
Seeing Lauren Hammersley back on my screen in a role that's a complete 180 from Virgin River's Charmaine was interesting. I can't wait to see where the show takes her character.
Cal: Yo, Sal, that woman over there. She's by the campfire. Red hair.
Sully: Yeah, what about her?
Cal: What's her problem?
Sully: I don't know, what do you think her problem is?
Cal: She seems awful full of herself.
Sully: Is that so?
Cal: Yeah. She had to make a point of telling me she was a doctor.
Sully: Neurosurgeon, actually.
Cal: Oh, you know her?
Sully: Yeah, you might say that.
Ed: Sully's daughter.
Cal: No. Sully. I had no idea.
Sully: Clearly.
The biggest negative of the premiere was Chad Michael Murray.
If you promote him being a part of the show, then at least give him plenty of screen time.
Thankfully, I've watched Sullivan's Crossing Season 1 and can confirm his prominence grows as the season progresses.
At this stage, though, I'm not sold on Cal. I need more of his backstory to find out why he's at Sullivan's Crossing to get a read on him.
That's all I got, Sullivan's Crossing Fanatics!
What are your thoughts on the series premiere?
Do you think the show is a perfect fit for The CW?
What's your take on Maggie's complicated relationship with her father?
Any theories about how things went south with Sully and Phoebe?
Hit the comments.
Catch new episodes on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
