Show: The Gathering (Lifetime)
Miniseries: Part 1 of 2
Premiere Date: Saturday, October 13th, 2007
Rating: 2½ out of 4 stars
Download: iTunes

Quick Synopsis: Witchy wife disappears, doctor plays detective, finds out he isn’t the only one this situation.

Long Synopsis: A doctor and family man wakes, after a special night with his wife, to find that she has disappeared. He then learns that one of his daughter’s teachers, who is also a friend of his wife, is gone as well. It looks like they might have run off together. He sets out to find out more about what might be going on. He starts to learn that she may be part of a witch’s coven, but why did she leave. The doctor meets a cop that turns out to know more about what is going on. He also meets another one of his daughter’s teachers that may have some information about what she could be involved in.

Review: The Gathering is a Lifetime Original Miniseries that stars Peter Gallagher (The O.C.), Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos), Kristin Lehman (Drive, Killer Instinct), Jenna Boyd (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Peter Fonda (3:10 to Yuma, Ghost Rider). It is a two part, four hour miniseries that is executive produced by David Eick, the guy behind the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica and Bionic Woman, and John Shiban, who has had his hands in Supernatural and The X-Files.

Gallagher is Dr. Michael Foster, the man searching for his wife and trying to keep control of his daughter. Sigler is Maggy Rule, a teacher of comparative religion at his daughter’s private school. Lehman is Ann Foster, the woman who goes missing, but is also a witch. Boyd is Zee Foster, the daughter and troubled youth that is being drawn in by the supernatural. Fonda is Thomas Carrier, the man behind the disappearance that is bent on world domination, starting with New York City.

In the first part, Gallagher gets most of the screen time. Sigler is under used, but her character is deeper in what is going on than it first appears, so will probably appear more in part two. Boyd gets a lot of screen time as well, as she is drawn ever closer into the world of witchcraft. The acting is pretty solid all the way around.

The Gathering starts slow, but picks up the pace a bit once Ann disappears. The story doesn’t move in a straight line, as flashes from the doctor’s past and possible hallucinations play out on screen. All in all, it has a very creepy feel to it and when part one was done, I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Look for a review of part two tomorrow.

Part one of The Gathering plays tonight on Lifetime and again before part two on Sunday night. It makes for a good option, especially on a Saturday night, but will have lots of competition for the conclusion on tomorrow.

What did you think of part one of The Gathering?