The series has an innocuous enough beginning: Arthur Milligan (Jonathan Morgan Heit) is the new boy in Granite Flats and he sees what he believes to be a comet fall somewhere near town. That incident begins a ever growing story of greater and greater complexity with plot lines criss crossing and becoming a spiders web of tangential vibrations. What you think of as a mixture of The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Thee Investigators morphs into a very dark cold war drama with three children at the epicenter.
Arthur, Timmy, and Madeline join together to first solve the mystery of the comet which turns out to be a Russian spy satellite. Along the way of solving a serious mystery, the trio solve typical junior high conundrums.
Add to the mix two scientists, Dr. Ronald Andrews and Dr. Susan Andrews— Madeline's parents— who are intent on turning a soldier into a Manchurian Candidate. Chief of police John Sanders,— Timmy's father—who finds himself working with FBI agent Ezekiel Scoot to trap a Russian mole, Major Slim Kirkpatrick, and his contact, an Avon lady. Nurse Beth Milligan—Arthur's mother—who gets co-opted into turning soldier Frank Quincy into a weapon with herself as his trigger. Dump in a side plot with ex soldier Hershel Jenkins trying to wrest back parental rights to his son Wallace from nurse Regina Clark.
Well with the second half of season two and all of season three, Granite Flats falls off the rails or just finds a very different track
Season two, episode five also introduces two new characters: English teacher Professor Hargraves (Christopher Lloyd) and Hugh Asmeade (Cary Elwes). Initially Hargraves appears to be introduced as a way to get the teens more involved in conspiracy theory. Hargraves constantly uses his teaching of Hamlet to expound on his theory not only did Shakespeare not write Shakespeare but also that the play Hamlet has secret codes and references to prove the real author was Edward de Vere.
Asmeade (Elwes) has a short juicy role as the shadowy head of a clandestine agency (the C.I.A?) that makes life uncomfortable for both Drs. Andrews and their boss, Dr. Millard Whittison as he takes over their secret project (Mad Man). In turn he figures out a way to use their trigger— Beth Milligan—and their weapon—Lt. Frank Quincy—to attempt an assassination attempt on Chief Justice Earl Warren.
In the season three opener, Arthur Milligan's mother is dead. Was it really a car accident with Lt. Quincy in the car? Suddenly the orphaned Arthur has an Aunt: Alice White (Parker Posey) who has been released from prison after serving a term for homicide but gets custody of her nephew. A turn that upsets both Arthur and Dr. Whittison who has decided to undertake the training of Arthur as a possible future agent. And Arthur has ended his relationship with his friends Tim and Madeline (who now are involved in a romantic tryst of their own somewhat encouraged by Professor Hargraves their own Friar Lawrence).
Aunt Alice who gives off the persona of a stupid hillbilly has the vocabulary of a college professor, speaks fluent German, is a bit of a snoop, and when suffering an epileptic seizure she experiences Cassandra like visions which she shares with her nephew. P.S., watch out for teased hair and enough eye shadow for a dozen women.
Then there is Wallace whose life has really changed. His father Hershel has rehabilitated himself and after his dishonorable discharge from the army is now a police officer with the Granite Falls PD and has custody of Wallace, which has left nurse Clark somewhat, upset that she has lost her ward. But she has some solace with her romantic involvement with Pastor Todd. Oh and Chief Sanders wife June is now an Avon Lady with a penchant for snooping. And Chief Sanders, officer Jenkins, and agent Scott are still looking for the Communist cell set up by now deceased Major Slim Kirkpatrick (KGB). Then there is really big news, Arthur's father is alive, is in Russia, appears to be a James Bond like figure, and is coming back to the USA for his son. And everyone wants to know who is the person referred to by Kirkpatrick as "the plumber." (It's not that hard to puzzle out.)
The plot continues to muddle on with the all too brief return and disappearance of Roy Milligan; the appearance of Scottie Andrews (George Newbern), younger gun toting lawyer brother of Dr. Ronald Andrews who works in the same building as Zelda, the KGB handler; the return of Wallace's long, long absent mother; the capture of Zelda the KGB handler; the reunion of the "three investigators" instigated by Lt. Quincy who wants them to find out what happened to his missing memories; Professor Hargraves is nothing more than a harmless old radical who believed in exercising his civil rights and encouraging others to do the same; and the big resolve at the end with everyone sitting around a table waiting for Dr. Whittison to tell story of why the name the plumber was actually chosen. Then there is quite a Christmas cliffhanger an the end.
As I understand it Granite Falls concludes with season three which is a good thing as the three child actors are getting so big that in a season four I would expect them to be wearing leathers, riding around on motorcycles, carrying .45's, and personally executing suspected spies and enemy agents. And personally I am tired of the proliferation of Shakespeare quotations and references, and thirteen year olds spouting Whitman from memory. Come on, this was the paranoid 50's, any teacher found pushing the "good gay poet" in junior high would have been fired for teaching any part of "Leaves of Grass" which was then considered obscene for its sexuality at the time period which serves as the setting for this series.
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