"REUNION" O'BSERVATIONS

The six of them - 3 boys, 3 girls, - are young, attractive, and very, very white. They have a personal dynamic that's perfectly suited for mix-and-match interpersonal relationships which no doubt will be explored as we follow them through the years.

Gee. Where have we seen such... friends... before?
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The main characters grew up in the Real World town of Bedford, NY. Was it perhaps chosen to suggest the fictional town of Bedford Falls, NY? And thus remind viewers of the irony in the movie title "It's A Wonderful Life"?
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Maybe there was another ironic allusion in this first episode. A seventh high school student was seen named Alger. Perhaps a reference to the success story of Horatio Alger?

Perhaps not.
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In case you're not up to speed on the premise, one of thse friends is murdered in 2006, allegedly by one of the other five. We don't know who that killer is; we won't even know who the victim is for a few weeks - not until the police detective has worked his way through interviews with the survivors.
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The cop in charge is played by Mathew St. Patrick, who played Keith Charles on 'Six Feet Under'. Since Alan Ball made damned sure his 6FUers' futures were set in stone, there's no reason to even try jumping through logical hoops to make his two characters the same guy.

Luckily for St. Patrick, his character will only be seen in the "present" of 2006. His final scene in 'Six Feet Under' showed that aging make-up was not his strong suit.
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I think each episode, since they're going to be mostly personalized flashbacks, will contain at least one snarky reminder of the differences between then and now thanks to 20/20 hindsight.

For this episode, it was when Aaron emphatically stated that Wham! would be the new Beatles. And Andrew Ridgeley? The next John Lennon.

He may have been on to something..... I can picture George Michael staging a bed-in for a piece.......
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For the first episode, there was a nice collection of musical snippets to not only suggest the era, but to comment on the scene. But they better have all been from 1986 and ONLY 1986! And that goes for each succeeding year as well.

I belong to an email digest group known as The Idiot's Delight Digest and a more erudite bunch of pop music fans it would be hard to imagine. And the "Iddiots" won't hesitate to rip the producers a new one online if they play fast and loose with the temporal details.

(I suppose Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", however, would work well to close out each year/episode.)
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Except for Claire, I can't see anything in any of these six friends that would make me care which one gets offed. (I know Cousin Marilee would probably defend Will, as she was a big fan of 'American Dreams'.)

Actually.... based on what I've seen so far, I'm surprised they weren't all murdered by somebody.
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As for the murderer? I'm going to lay out a theory now as to the identity of the killer. If I'm right, I can do a televictory dance with the proof immortalized here.

And if I'm wrong? Wouldn't be the first time; won't be the last.
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The episode began with Alger giving the eulogy at the funeral. If these friends were so close, how come one of them didn't deliver it? I'd think the killer would want to cover his or her tracks by coming to praise the deceased as well as to bury him/her.

And maybe that's what happened.

Wouldn't it be the ultimate twist to be led into thinking that one of the other five did it, only to find out it was somebody else entirely?

Go back and listen to Alger's eulogy again. He seems intent on keeping the focus on the six of them. If listened to in my frame of mind, I think you can pick up on his suggestive tone that one of them is the murderer.

But if he was delivering the eulogy, then he had to be just as close to the deceased as the remaining five friends were.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And that reminds me of another possible allusion connected to his name - the traitorous activities of Alger Hiss.

Just sayin', is all. For alls I know (as Stuart Best was known to say at 'FYI'), even if this is what they had in mind, the writers may get wind of this (shyeah, right!) and rewrite the script.

Say hey! Maybe the cop did it! Mathew St. Patrick just came off one of the most highly regarded series of the last few years..... There had to be something about this character that prompted him to leap right into a new show.

Then again, Gregory Harrison did have those shifty eyes and -#

Sorry, Officer. I'll be quiet now.......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby