The Mystery Of ‘The Whispers’ May Be Its Saving Grace [Video]
Caution: This article may contain spoilers for The Whispers.
There seems to be a big question mark surrounding The Whispers and its place on ABC’s summer line-up. Even though performances from The Whispers’ stars Milo Ventimiglia and Lily Rabe have been compelling and child stars like Kyle Harrison Breitkopf and Kylie Rogers have been equally believable, ratings for The Whispers have been up and down in the four weeks since its premiere.
The problem is that the delay in debuting The Whispers has created a time crunch for ABC execs pressured to decide whether or not to renew, before cast options expire. Deadline reports that an extension on the expiration of those options was declined and that one of The Whispers‘ central stars, Lily Rabe, has been holding out, expressing an interest in departing from the series.
Meanwhile, fluctuating ratings have only caused to further undermine the process. Following a positive return in ratings for The Whispers‘ premiere episode, there was a two-week decline in ratings. That decline was followed by another two-week increase in ratings, but leaving The Whispers still falling short of the ratings enjoyed in its series premiere.
On its face, The Whispers seems like the average police procedural drama, except for the horror aspect that lends to the mystery of The Whispers. The villain (or possibly friend) named Drill is still so much of a mystery that even the characters aren’t sure of his allegiances.
“I don’t think grow-ups always really know what’s going on, even when they say they do,” says Minx Lawrence (Kylie Rogers) in The Whispers fourth episode, “Meltdown.”
That episode culminated in a nuclear meltdown that should have contaminated a 7-mile radius surrounding the nuclear plant in question, but the energy from that meltdown was redirected by the same entity that caused it: Drill. Much like redirecting Sean Bennigan (Milo Ventimiglia) to the African desert, where his crashed plane was ultimately found, Drill displayed a tremendous amount of power by redirecting the energy of that meltdown elsewhere, saving Bennigan, his wife (Lily Rabe), and their son Henry (Kyle Harrison Breitkopf) in the process.
But where has all of that energy gone? The Whispers isn’t telling.
Next week’s episode of The Whispers seems to be upping the stakes in the ratings game by promising a big reveal. Will Drill finally reveal what this has all been about and will he prove himself an ally to the children after all? Will he prove himself an ally to The Whispers and deliver a much needed spike in ratings, or will it all end in a fizzle.
ABC is gambling on The Whispers, on Drill, and on its fifth episode. The decision to renew The Whispers will be made on Tuesday, just one day after the airing of the fifth episode “What Lies Beneath.”
The Whispers airs Mondays on ABC.
[Featured image courtesy of ABC/The Whispers]
