Show: The Gathering (Lifetime)
Miniseries: Part 2 of 2
Air Date: Sunday, October 14th, 2007
Rating: 2½ out of 4 stars
Download: iTunes

Quick Synopsis: The daughter might be the one.

Long Synopsis: The doctor continues searching for his wife, still not believing that witchcraft exists. When the teacher at his daughter’s school ends up in the hospital with the same unexplained illness that he dealt with once in the past, he is offered an incantation and process to overcome her sickness. He starts to learn that some very powerful people are behind his wife’s disappearance. When these people decide that he is getting too close, they try to take him out. But, they fail when it turns out his daughter is home and, not knowing what she is doing, saves her father with her mom-like abilities. The daughter then uses her powers to figure out where the witch’s coven is doing their dirty work. The doctor, cop and another go there to try and save them.

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.

The events in part two pick up right where part one left off. The story moves along at much the same pace. Unfortunately, the way it jumps from scene to scene, you feel like stuff is still being left out of the story. But, it continues to feel very creepy, which is what you want in a supernatural thriller.

Sigler’s teacher character does play more into the story than in the first part. Gallagher’s doctor Foster finally comes around to believing in what is going on. Boyd’s character really becomes the center of the ongoing story. All the performances are pretty good, other than Fonda’s wooden performance as real-estate mogul Thomas Carrier.

The Gathering miniseries leaves open the possibility of continuing the story. You are not left with a clean conclusion. When you see how it ends, you will want to know how that happened. You will also probably be interested in seeing how Zee deals with her abilities and how she learns to control them going forward.

Overall, it is a good miniseries, but didn’t really like being left hanging as much as we are in the end. Of course, if they continue the story in the future, then that criticism goes away.

Both parts play tonight, Sunday, October 14th, 2007 on Lifetime and will both replay during the day next Sunday, October 21st.

What did you think of part two of The Gathering, or the miniseries as a whole?

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?