Point Pleasant: The Complete Series

This short-lived dramatic series from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Prison Break producer Marti Noxon revolves around a seemingly ingenuous blond teen named Christina (Elisabeth Harnois), who washes up out of nowhere on the beaches of Point Pleasant, NJ. Saved by lifeguard hunk Jesse (Sam Page), Christina is taken in by Dr. Ben and wife Meg Kramer (Richard Burgi and Susan Walters), and befriends their daughter Judy (Aubrey Dollar). But Christina has always had a weird feeling about herself, and the dicey circumstances surrounding her out-of-the-blue arrival and strange upbringing are eventually made clear: Christina is the antichrist daughter of Satan, and she's going to destroy God's “mistake” by obliterating the entire world, starting with Point Pleasant. Lucifer's right-hand-man Lucas Boyd (deliciously devoid-of-feeling standout star Grant Show of Melrose Place) is in town to watch over Christina and help her rise to power, although Christina is also drawn by her “good side,” which comes from her unknown mortal mother. Christina tries to fight against Boyd's agenda and her own fierce inner demons, but when she gets pissed off, bad things happen--from explosions to a near-death-by-falling-disco-ball (!). Pretty soon, humanity's more ignoble traits—jealousy, suspicion, infidelity, betrayal—start to irritate Christina past the breaking point, and all hell breaks loose in a cliffhanger finale. Unfortunately, slipshod plotting and pretentious acting are the order of the day here, and while the final few episodes are captivating (of the 13 included here, only eight were aired), it turned out to be too little too late for the canceled series. The sole DVD extra is a “making-of” featurette. Optional. (J. Williams-Wood)