4 out of 5

Created by: Josh Mepham, Mark Rocchio, Greg Sullivan, Vito Viscomi

Big ol’ overall spoiler up front, but maybe one I wouldn’t have minded knowing going in: The Hollow doesn’t mean anything.  There’s no Lost-y over mythologizing or 11th hour sleight of hand, and because of that, the show sort of has no choice but to just sorta’ say g’night! upon the final episode, and that’s essentially what it does: it confirms some lingering concepts, then bows out.  Was there room to do more?  Does this make for some odd plot escalations toward the end?  Yes, and while I’m not disappointed in the “reason” behind the events in the show – because it fesses up to it and then pretty much sticks to that idea and doesn’t deviate – I am, admittedly, bummed that they didn’t expand the concept and characters moreso.  The flipside is that the writers (a tight-knit foursome whom, between them, created, wrote, and directed the show) prioritized making each episode work as a compact adventure, and so I found myself glued to the screen, very much enjoying things while rather intuitively understanding that it wasn’t going to amount to much more than popcorn.

But to that popcorn-y extent, our three leads – three teens who wake up memory-less in a blank room which they must puzzle their way out of, only to find themselves shunted from event to event with arctic settings, Western settings, fantasy settings, and appropriate baddies to dodge in each – are presented with the faculties to approach their situation pretty logically.  Some petty squabbles about leadership happen, but they’re short and quick-to-get to apologies, which is a refreshing lack of dramaturgy filler.  Again: the adventure is the priority, and by making our primaries pretty likeable and smart characters, nothing stands in our way of enjoying the adventure along with them.

The baddie design is also admirable, giving fresh and screen-filling spins on classic creepos like zombies and etcetera.

…Then there’s the ending.  It’d be easy to throw my hands up and complain about this, but in part that’s just because I wish there was more of the show.  I wish there was a season two, and the ending precludes that (or at least precludes a logical continuation).  And, as mentioned, there’s actually something nice – a sense of confidence – about a show that sets itself up as a mystery – Why are we here?  How do we get out? – and then doesn’t try any tomfoolery to escape the solution once its been essentially pointed out.

Adam, Kai and Mira wake up in a strange land populated with otherworldly denizens, cryptic messages, puzzles, super-natural powers, and a complete lack of knowledge as to how they got there.  For ten episodes, we watch alongside as they get involved in nutso scrap after scrap, getting to know each other along the way and piecing together what’s what.  Set your expectations, set aside five hours, and prepare to not move as you get wrapped up in the goingson.