With softball season being on hold for a bit now, 
With the new season of Big Brother having just started, we thought our time was going to be monopolized by that (it airs three separate episodes per week), but it turns out we can't stand half the cast members this season, so at least right now we have stopped watching it.
Eventually, we both happened to stumble on a Netflix show called The Waterfront. It was billed as something like Ozark, but not in the Ozarks. After watching the first season, I can see why they may have tried to sell it that way, but I really wouldn't compare the two shows together besides the fact that they both deal with drugs. I mean all good things start with drugs right?
I'm not going to worry too much about spoilers in this post, so just be warned. Chances are the five people who actually read this post aren't going to watch the show anyway, so it shouldn't be a huge deal. That being said, what I am going to share doesn't change the show too much, so if you did want to watch it, you should still be good.
I kind of feel like Netflix was trying to capitalize on the success of Ozark and The Outer Banks and came up with something that isn't quite as good as the former, but it still works. I'm not saying Ozark was the best thing I have ever watched, but there was something raw, heartbreaking, and disturbing about it. The Waterfront tries to be that, but it's honestly a bit too soapy for its own good to actually achieve that.
The basic premise for the show is that a pretty dysfunctional family runs a fishing business on the coast of North Carolina. We are introduced pretty quickly in the first episode that the same family has a pretty deep history with smuggling drugs.
The patriarch is played by Holt McCallany who seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place where I have seen him before. Oddly enough, IMDB (Internet Movie Database) didn't give me much insight into that. The scenes with Holt were a bit hard to watch early in the season. I couldn't figure out if he was just a bad actor or if it was his delivery. Turns out it was the latter and by the end of the first season his dialog didn't bug me so much. Perhaps he just needed a bit of time to slide into the character.
Maria Bello from various films and TV, but mainly Coyote Ugly plays the mother of the family. I've been a fan of Maria for quite some time now all the way back to her short lived stint with Scott Bakula in Mr. and Mrs. Smith back in 1996.
The main son Cain is played by Jake Weary and while the name might not sound familiar, if you have watched the show "Animal Kingdom", you will likely recognize him as one of the brothers from that show. Finally, Melissa Benoist plays the daughter Bree who plays a character that is a huge departure from her role as Supergirl.
In fact, I think I was probably most impressed by Benoist in this show. I was only familiar with her work on Supergirl, so seeing her in a such a vulnerable role was pretty eye opening.
That's obviously not the full list of characters, but it covers most of the main ones. The only real omission I made was the inclusion of Topher Grace from "That 70's Show" fame. Spoiler alert, he plays a bad guy in the show, but dang if he doesn't play such a good bad guy. Imagine Eric Foreman as a sadistic sociopath. It's both cringy and impressive to watch all at the same time.
There was a fair bit of the show that I found fairly predictable. One of the big "shocker" moments happened quite early in the season and before they even made the reveal, I had looked at
The season sets itself up quite well for a second season, but it will just be a question of whether or not Netflix decides to cancel the show or continue on with it. It's pretty safe to say that as long as they keep making episodes, my wife and I will keep watching it. As much as the father annoyed me at first, I think my biggest issue with the show is the son Cain. Maybe it's just because I am comparing this character to Jake Weary's character in Animal Kingdom and the two couldn't be any more dissimilar.
My wife even turned to me at one point and said "he's such a pussy".
I guess that is all part of the character arc. You will have to watch it yourself if you want to see if that resolves itself or not.
As a fan of bourbon/whiskey, they definitely give a lot of love to the Michter's brand in this show, and I can't say that I blame them (it's good stuff). I haven't seen product placement like that for Michter's since Jessica Jones was still on. Maybe they have some kind of exclusive deal with Netflix.
Looking at other reviews on IMDB, I would have to agree, this isn't a show that is going to blow your mind or take your imagination anywhere new, but it is a solid watch and I would recommend it if you are just looking for some mindless entertainment.
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or
