Fall Into Darkness
Fall Into Darkness (Mon. (25), 9-11 p.m., NBC) Filmed in Vancouver, B.C., by Patchett-Kaufman Entertainment in association with Christopher Pike Prods. Executive producer, Kenneth Kaufman; co-executive producer, Christopher Pike; producers, Stephanie Hagen and Harriet Brown; supervising producer, Ann Kindberg; associate producer, Debbie Smith; director, Mark Sobel; writer, J.B. White; production designer, William Strom; director of photography, Miklos Lente; music, Cory Lerios, John D'Andrea; editor, Jonathan Braun; casting, Junie Lowry-Johnson, Sid Kozak, Ron Surma, Linda Labelle; sound, Larry Sutton. Cast: Tatyana M. Ali, Jonathan Brandis, Charlotte Ross, Sean Murray, Paul Scherrer, Jason Nash, Allan Morgan, Deborah Lacey, Marco Sanchez, Brian Markinson, Benjamin Ratner. If you have never heard of Christopher Pike, you must be well over the age of consent. To older teenagers, the thriller novelist is Stephen King, R.L. Stine and Michael Crichton rolled into one, with a mind-numbing 35 million copies of his "more than 55" books in print, whatever that means (56, perhaps?). Having conquered the world of adolescent literature, Pike is now setting his sights on network primetime, where the audience is larger and the frustrations undoubtedly greater. His first adaptation to make it onto TV is "Fall Into Darkness," an original teenfilm based on the bestseller of the same name about young rock climbers and the evil things they do. More than merely far-fetched, "Fall Into Darkness" supplies a collection of unctuous characters who consistently do the least-likely thing, as if their brains are being controlled by a toddler pushing buttons. The production itself is one part beer commercial, one part "Twin Peaks." Tatyana M. Ali (Ashley on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air") stars as Sharon McKay, an impossibly shy and naive piano virtuoso destined for Juilliard who meets wealthy orphan Jerry (Sean Murray). Within seconds, Jerry is in love. In less than 72 hours, he is rejected, heartbroken and suicidal. And he kills himself. Things move fast when you're obsessive and immature. Once Jerry's gone, his wicked bombshell of a sister, Ann (a deliciously warped performance from Charlotte Ross), decides that heartbreaker Sharon is responsible and sets out hatching a plot so illogical and absurd that you know it has to work. She decides to stage her own death by diving over a rocky cliff to finger the shellshocked Sharon, who a few days before was just another lonely piano player. Not the sort of rock 'n' roll you find most kids performing. Everything goes to hell, of course, particularly when Jerry's seemingly sweet brother Chad (Jonathan Brandis, who played the techno-wizard Lucas on "seaQuest DSV") enters the picture. Then things really get illogical, particularly after Sharon suddenly becomes a champion rockface rope climber without an ounce of training. Shot on location in Vancouver, the camera work on "Fall Into Darkness" is striking, the scenery exquisite. Tech credits are fine. And Mark Sobel's direction is nicely done, coaxing an impressive series of performances from his youthful acting troupe. But while teens will probably eat up the capably staged scenes of suspense here, J.B. White's script is so full of gaping story holes and baffling plot contrivances that it promotes hyperventilation. Just wait until the end, when Sharon receives a certain gift from the least likely of sources. If this is Pike's peak, he should stick to books. Ray Richmond
