While I was late to this party, The Resort on Peacock hooked me right away. While a lot of shows have that hook, most of them fizzle as the show goes or ends. The Resort, however, had one of the most satisfying endings of any show I've watched all year, and that definitely lifted my esteem of this show quite a bit.
I never watched the show Lost, but from what I know about that show, The Resort captures some of the best sci-fi vibes from that show and wraps them around a light-hearted dramedy. The show is written in a similar fashion by using cliffhangers to get you to watch one more episode, so much so that my wife and I binged the entire eight-episode show in one day.
The show centers around Emma and Noah, a young couple vacationing at an unassuming resort; they aren't just living it up, though. This trip is an attempt to save their marriage, which has hit a rocky patch after challenges in life.
While on an early excursion, Emma gets into a bit of a crash. While she tries to collect herself, she finds a mysterious, old-school phone on the ground. She then uncovers the mystery of the show, which centers around another young couple vacationing at this resort years ago before they went missing. A storm hit the resort at the same time they disappeared, so everyone just assumed the storm killed them. Emma is not convinced. What follows is a fun back-and-forth time-hopping story between the present - when Emma discovers out-of-context information - then lets the audience watch the events of the past unfold to set up that context. Time-hopping (a staple of Lost) is an overdone writing mechanism these days, but it was still a fun journey that made it bearable, and the execution doesn't leave you scratching your head too much; rather, it gives you one puzzle piece at a time that slowly brings the big picture into better focus.
The actress who plays Emma is Cristin Millioti (of How I Met Your Mother fame), and she continues to move up on my list; her charm and wit make her impossible not to like. Millioti brings an incredible balance to her character. She convincingly makes Emma's desire to pursue the truth behind this mystery very believable (the story certainly complements that with a couple of key character moments and reveals that add a lot of depth and understanding of her motivation). On top of that, Millioti carries the heavier, emotional moments - particularly the tense moments that show the strain on her marriage - with a weighty gravitas. But she also balances the character with a light-heartedness.
William Jackson Harper does a great job playing her husband, Noah. He is a little more understated, but Harper still brings the character to life. He's another actor who continues to move up on my list. The first time I saw him extensively was in the quirky show The Good Place, where he played Chidi, my favorite character on that otherwise mediocre show.
The other characters in the show came across a little corny at times and a little underdeveloped. There was a neat storyline involving a child who had a quirky relationship with the author of a book series he was reading at the time, but it got weird and escalates to rather unbelievable levels of stalking when he grows up. Another rather cooky side character actually becomes a main character, especially in the finale, where it is implied his story will continue (perhaps in an unannounced Season 2 or a spin-off). That would be most welcome, because a lot of his story didn't really make sense and wasn't very rewarding. Plus, I'd love to revisit this story and these characters anyway.