What do you get when you combine “Bates Motel,” “Twilight,” and “Robocop”? Netflix had this same idea, so “Hemlock Grove” was created. This is labeled as a “horror-thriller,” but it does not fit into either of those. It’s just weird and confusing.
When a teenage gypsy werewolf, Peter, moves to a small town in Pennsylvania, he is exposed to the sight of the horrific murder of a teen prostitute. Many people in town accuse him, because he just happened to conveniently show up at the same time she was killed. Students at school also suspect he is a werewolf because, as one girl said, he is “unnaturally hairy.” Obviously that was such a logical reason. Despite however logical or illogical the reasoning, it is true.
The Godfrey family is the wealthiest family in town. This Romanian clan is easily one of the most dysfunctional families on the air today. The mother is a prostitute, the daughter is half-human, half-robot, the son is just loopy, and the father shot himself when the kids were babies. As if that weren’t bad enough, the extended family gets even more twisted and confusing so they can stay out of this. Roman, the son, is very shady at school, but somehow manages to become the most popular student. The sister is demented by no fault of her own. Besides the fact that she is over eight feet tall and has a lens instead of an eye, she is just a normal “girl.” She has crushes and friends, if you consider an uncle a best friend. Her brother is very protective of her, so at least that aspect seems about normal.
As if the characters weren’t confusing enough, the plot is scattered and very hard to follow. The murder is just strange, the gypsy werewolf mutant family is strange, and this whole show is just strange. This gets very hard to follow and requires so much focus to watch, that it deters some viewers. In the end I think it is interesting, but I could not picture “Hemlock Grove” having a huge fan base. It’s the type of show you watch when nothing else is on, even though the plot is very twisted. Netflix did not accomplish much with the series, except having a show to watch just because nothing else good is on and getting up and being productive just is not an option.