More questions—lots of questions.  This show really is all about mysteries.  I keep wondering what Greta could have done that would torment her so.  I wouldn’t put anything past Cliff, but I just can’t see Greta doing anything that bad.  I was examining every scene, looking for anything that might give me clue as to what is going on in this town.  The characters are starting to be developed by the writers, which, if not done, can kill a show.  This is a good sign.

Johnny gets his share of warnings in this episode.  Just about everyone warned him of something.  And, just about everyone revealed some secret or something about themselves.  The kicker was that he learns Eddie committed suicide in HIS room.  If you were in his shoes, how would that make you feel?  He shared some intimate time with Greta when they went for a drive into the surrounding hills and had a sweet heart-to-heart talk with the sun setting in the background.  Johnny reveals he was in rehab and we learn Greta’s mother died when she was ten and her dad travels, so she’s pretty much on her own.  Seems like an ideal situation to be in, rich and no parents around.  But, I think Greta’s already paying the price for all that freedom.  She’s such a tortured soul.

Nikki, an old girlfriend who spent time in rehab with Johnny, shows up in town.  She’s not doing quite as well as Johnny, since her continued drinking and a “fire” incident landed her in a halfway house.  Johnny and Greta rescue her after a drunken scene at the town’s benefit event.  I understood Johnny’s concern for her, but Greta’s show of compassion for Nikki was nice.  And then there was Johnny and Greta’s first kiss.  Hot!

So who do you think 08Nova is?  My first guess was Liza, thinking that “nova” was being used in the context of science and Liza is the only geek we’ve been introduced to so far in the show.  But, how would she have gotten hold of the video that 08Nova sent at the end of the show?  Got any thoughts on this?  That mask was pretty freaky, but I thought the fact that the video was shot right there in Johnny’s room was even freakier.  I’m beginning to be a little afraid for Johnny

Not too many shows make my jaw drop.  It happened twice in the pilot of Hidden Palms.  The opening scene in which Johnny’s dad shoots himself was the first jaw-dropper.  I wonder if his dad was always so philosophical when he got drunk (“Life shouldn’t be so expected.”).  If not, that should have been a clue to Johnny that something really bad was going to happen.

Fast forward one year. Johnny is fresh out of rehab and the new kid in town.  His new addiction is a camera, which I see being of some major importance in his future and he’s taking his father’s last words seriously.  It was good advice.  If you don’t know who Pablo Neruda is, check him out on Wikipedia.  Deep.

The pilot introduces us to the main characters and I’ve already picked out my favorites.  There’s Johnny, still hurting, still dealing with the fallout of his dad’s suicide.  He’s smart (you’ll see him reading a lot of books), but is he smart enough to not end up like Eddie?  Cliff lives next door and while he appears clean-cut, there’s a verrrry dark side to him, perhaps fuelled by the odd relationship with his mother.  It’s like he’s taking care of her, not her taking care of her son.  And, Cliff provided the second jaw-dropper of the show, kicking the neighbor’s dog.  But he just doesn’t kick the dog out of anger, which is bad enough; he sweetly entices the dog to come to him and then BAM—attacks him.  Hopefully the writers will explore this relationship; I think it will explain a lot as the mysteries unfold, or deepen.  Greta is the pretty girl every guy wants.  She’s a major drama queen, which, of course, hides all her pain.  Where does all that pain come from?  Then there’s the nerdy Liza, who is smitten with her new neighbor, Johnny.  She has very understanding parents.  Their comments were, after she blows up the garage during one of her chemistry experiments, “. . . let’s try to find some quieter chemicals to play with?”  These kids all have issues, but once you meet the parents, you know where it all comes from.

The pilot ended with a lot of questions.  Why did Eddie kill himself?  What’s the “deal” Cliff and Greta have?  When Cliff met Johnny for the first time, he said, “…this town is in desperate need of fresh blood.”  Do you think he meant that literally?

I hear the second episode will have you hooked.  Stay tuned . . .