666 Park Avenue Recap: “Pilot”

by Jessica Grafer:

666 Park Avenue Recap: “Pilot”
Original Air Date (ABC): Sunday September 30, 2012
Season 1 Episode 1

Welcome to The Drake

I was so stoked for this new show and I was not disappointed.  Let’s get right to it.

We start off with an amazing classical concert.  One of the violinists is so passionate his fingertips are turning bloody from playing.  Olivia and Gavin Doran are enjoying the music (or the blood spatter) immensely.  The violinist finishes the concert and races home.  He furiously packs a bag and smashes his violin before attempting to run out of the building.  When he steps out of the elevator all the doors shut.  The place is empty.  An old school telephone begins to ring on the desk.  Gavin tells him time is up.  Time for him to collect.  The musician asks for more time but there is no negotiating.  He runs for the door and makes it outside.  He thinks he’s free.  Once you sign a contract at The Drake it isn’t bound by any walls or doors.  A panel opens in the door and the man is sucked up and back into the building where I imagine he’ll spend eternity.  Hope his musical talents were worth it.  A fantastic way to introduce us to The Drake Apartments 999 Park Avenue.  Yes, the building is not 666 but 999.  Think about it. How many people would want to live at 666 anything.  I wouldn’t!  When the light hits the numbers just right though, this is when the 666 appears.  In the shadows.  That’s kind of perfect I think.

Oh, Jane and Henry.  Such wide-eyed, eager kids looking for a new start.  Haven’t they heard that if it looks too good to be true it probably is?  Apparently not.  We meet Olivia and Gavin Doran.  Gavin comes off as a stuffy business man.  He’s kind of mean and actually belittles the couple and turns them down for the job at first.  Then Jane impresses him with her architectural knowledge and they are in.  She might regret this later.  Jane and Henry are hired as managers of the impressive Drake Apartments.  Their own apartment is amazing.  They ask what happened to the previous manager.  Tony tells them, “Mr. Hartwell moved someplace warmer.” He pauses and then says, Arizona.  I was cracking up!

There are lots of interesting tenants at The Drake.  Brian and Louise are a cute couple.  Brian is a playwright with a wandering eye.  He keeps peaking at the neighbor whose bed is conveniently in front of a large window and she has no curtains.  When Louise needs a new assistant, surprise surprise the hottie neighbor gets the job.  Louise was teasing Brian about this when her head is slammed by the closing elevator door.  I did not see that coming.  The elevator continued to try and shut the door on Louise’s body and then tried to go up with her hanging out.  Louise escaped alive but now she’s in the hospital.  This leaves Brian and the assistant with possible alone time.

Nona seems to be a quirky loner.  Can’t quite figure her out yet.  She let’s Jane know that there is a thief in the building.  Then it turns out, she’s the thief.  She steals personal items from the other tenants.  When she is holding Jane’s necklace she sees a vision of Jane running then possibly being hit with an axe.  Is Nona a psychic?  Does she see what will happen or what might happen?

John Barlow’s wife Mary has recently committed suicide by throwing herself off the roof.  John is devastated and asks Gavin for help in bringing his wife back.  Gavin agrees but there is a price to pay.  Barlow kills a judge.  Mary is back and things are swell.  For a short time.  Mary starts to fall apart and Gavin wants Barlow to kill someone else to keep her “alive”.  Barlow can’t do it.  Gavin is disappointed in him and Barlow disappears into the wall with other lost souls.  While this is happening Jane is having a nightmare.  She is following a girl through the building up to the roof.  It turns out to be Mary Barlow.  Before jumping off Mary tells her, “You shouldn’t have come here.  They’re never gonna let you go.”  When Jane wakes up her feet are filthy.

Jane is digging into the history of the building and she finds a mosaic of a dragon on the floor of the basement.  She finds out that in the 1920’s it used to be a meeting place for the Order of the Dragon.  There was also a door in the basement that is now walled over.  Gavin has put Jane in charge of the restoration of the building.  This is a great opportunity for her to do some literal digging in the basement.  Jane and Henry can’t turn this down.  They sign the contracts with Gavin practically drooling over them.  Henry works for the Mayor and Gavin and Olivia plan to use Jane to get Henry on their side.

The ideas for this show remind me a lot of The Devil’s Advocate.  The movie with Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino.  Great movie.  I think if they can keep up the mystery and intrigue this will be a terrific series.  I look forward to next week.

The battle between good and evil begins.  Welcome to The Drake.

Jessica Grafer has loved the “darker” things since she was old enough to pick her own books. She is a contributor for DarkMedia who will be covering Revenge and 666 Park Avenue. She loves to walk the book store shelves and pick up whatever catches her eye. She is a movie lover with a great range in her tastes, and appreciation for all genres. Jessica is a writer and has several things in the works. You can follow her quirky Twitter posts at @scarletbe and check out her blog.