DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
DATES
July 9, 2015  | By David Bianculli

CW, 9:00 p.m. ET

 

SERIES PREMIERE: Dates really surprised me. From the title, and the network, I expected a reality show full of beautiful young twentysomethings. Instead, this series turns out to be much more mature, challenging, and original. In fact, it’s not a CW original at all, but a British import – of an anthology drama series from 2013. Two episodes are shown each Thursday this summer on CW, beginning with the first date between David and Mia (Will Mellor and, from Game of Thrones, Oona Chaplin). Each episode is like a two-character, one-act play – think of HBO’s In Treatment, which Dates most closely resembles.  Dates is created and written by Bryan Elsley, co-creator of the original British Skins, and Dates has that credible sense of rawness. In the opener, Mellor is tender and vulnerable, and Chaplin (pictured) – granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, and great-granddaughter of Eugene O’Neill – is captivating. You want to see more of her Mia than just this half-hour dose. And you will, because some of the daters in Dates return, over the course of the series. Just not necessarily with the same companions. For a full review, see Ed Bark's see Uncle Barky's Bytes.

 
 
 
 
 
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