HOLLYWOOD – It’s very difficult to get excited about a new television series. It’s not just the premise that has to grab my attention, but also the characters that appear on the small screen. Who would have thought that while channel surfing I would stumble upon the MGM+ series “Emperor of Ocean Park.” It’s an interweaving of drama and mystery starring Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. Whitaker plays Judge Oliver Garland, a big name in the legal world and politics.
Yes, the show deals with politics in an interesting way. Oliver is a Republican, but two of his children, Talcot (Grantham Coleman) and Addison (Henry Simmons), are Democrats. His daughter Mariah (Tiffany Mack) is a Republican, which often gets on her brothers’ nerves.
Oliver has been chosen for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, and as audiences witness in the series premiere, it seemed like a done deal. Not quite, because a face from Oliver’s past makes big waves in the appointment and develops a huge scandal that costs him his seat on the highest court in the land. This is a direct result of Jack Ziegler (Torrey Hanson), who has done some heinous things and is feared by many in Oliver’s family, especially Mariah and Talcot, who call him “Uncle Jack.”
It’s no secret that Judge Oliver Garland is found dead in the first episode. At first it seems that his death was a natural death, a heart attack. But Mariah, the family journalist with a talent for uncovering deep secrets, suspects that her father died of a crime. Her brothers Addison and Talcot, known to his siblings as Tal, consider her conspiracy theory dubious at best. Her theory seems to have more substance than expected when Uncle Jack unexpectedly shows up at the cemetery to pay his last respects to Oliver.
His tense conversation with Tal worries Tal, Mariah and Addison as it raises questions about “the arrangements”. Oliver left important notes somewhere and it seems like EVERYONE is after these “arrangements” that the kids have no idea about. Is it something directly political, does it have something to do with Jack Ziegler and his past, or maybe something bigger that the audience hasn’t even thought about? That’s the big secret that I, as a viewer, want to know.
Tal is a lawyer at a prestigious university in Chicago, following in his father’s footsteps. Mariah has been out of reporting for a while, choosing family over her career, and since she has a wealthy husband in Howard (Bryan Greenberg), money is not an issue for her. Addison is in the world of television, but is the exact opposite of his father. All of the children are successful in their careers, but it is obvious that Oliver puts a lot of pressure on his children during their childhood, especially Talcot, who does not always connect with his siblings, who throw in a few jabs whenever they can. Talcot and Oliver have a special bond, and this is evident in the series’ flashbacks.
Yes, this show has A LOT of flashbacks where we jump from the present to the past with each episode, learning things about our characters and important plot points that are crucial to the narrative.
Talcot is under a lot of pressure in his personal life as his wife Kimmer (Paulina Lule) is currently being investigated by the FBI for an important legal position. She comes across as a “Ms. Perfect” who is actually hiding some serious secrets. To top it off, she seems to be having an affair with her boss or someone connected to him, and Tal slowly gets closer to the truth.
Emperor of Ocean Park cleverly points to several characters keeping secrets, but it’s clear that Talcot and Mariah are at the center of the search for the truth. Addison is hiding a secret, Kimmer is hiding secrets, Jack is hiding secrets, I have a feeling Howard is hiding secrets, lives are being threatened, people are being killed, Oliver is hiding massive secrets, and a scrapbook of family photos could be the key to solving it all.
After six episodes, I’m riveted, trying to figure out how the first season ends and what bombshell or bombshells will blow my mind. Emperor of Ocean Park airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on MGM+.
