First off, as the headstrong radio journalist Lia, Biel (pictured at top) is as captivating here as she was in the first season of USA’s super thriller The Sinner. She brings a dichotomy to the role, as Lia comes off equal parts headstrong and enigmatic. Her only current goal in life is solving the mystery of Limetown, a small neighborhood erected around a neuroscience research facility that housed its employees and their families. One day (five years prior to the show’s start) an alarming 9-1-1 call was made from someone there, and when the authorities finally reached the small, supposedly safe and family friendly town, everyone was gone. No explanation, no clues, nothing. It was a ghost town. Now, after much investigating Lia is finally getting some answers, but the closer she gets to the awful truth, the more precarious her situation becomes.
The aesthetic and style of this series is 100 percent bleak. Muted colors and dark lighting abound, except of course when we’re being shown pre-disappearance flashbacks of the eponymous town. Those are always bright and warm, reflecting the comfort and false sense of security that permeated the suburban neighborhood before whatever assumedly tragic event ended their little science party.
Lia, who was unrelenting about figuring out the whole Limetown thing way before anyone else thought it was worth looking into, does so not only because she a journalist and therefore a fan of the truth, but also because she wants closure. Her uncle, Emile Haddock (Stanley Tucci), also worked at the Limetown facility, and as a result is one of the many people who are missing. Their relationship seems to be the only real one she has, err, had, mainly because her other ones only seem to serve her sexually. It’s not a major aspect of the show, but it is worth noting that outside of her fond childhood memories of playing reporter with her uncle or talking to someone about Limetown, she only seems to connect with people in a physical sense. This is made clear in the very first episode when she records the audio from a sexual encounter with her partner, and later plays said audio during her … private time.
Aside from Lia, there are other characters that do an amazing job of providing the creepy and mysterious vibe that the series requires. Omar Elba plays Mark Green, a coworker who was assigned by their boss, Gina (Sherri Saum), to help Lia with the Limetown story. He’s a nice enough guy; I think Mark is meant to represent the normal human reaction to things, as opposed to the slightly more hardened reactions we get from Lia, who’s obviously been through some stuff.
One of my favorite performances so far has been from John Beasley’s character, The Reverend. While I won’t give anything away, I will say that Beasley brings a huge amount of heart to the screen through his role, and The Reverend has a definite impact on the narrative. On the flipside we have French Stewart, who’s role as a cancer-riddled alleged arsonist left me feeling the exact opposite of all the warm inviting feelings The Rev drummed up.
The pace of the show is, well, perfect. It’s not for everybody, of course, but for this series in particular, it works. Limetown releases information to the audience at a speed that is anything but rushed, and because of the approximately 30-minute runtime of each episode -- a length usually reserved for comedies, as opposed to the 45 or more minutes that dramas tend to run -- the writers are still able to divulge just enough in every episode to generate interest in the next. This steady pace is what allows a lot of the tension to build throughout the episodes, which further enhances the implied (but legitimate) threat of danger from those who are opposed to Lia’s digging up of the truth.
As the story has progressed, it has begun to feel as though there will be a sci-fi thread in this tapestry, as well. (I won’t give that away either, but let’s just say it involves pigs.) Obviously I know that on paper this whole thing is as conspiracy theory-ish as it gets -- mass disappearances, scientific research facilities, possible cover ups and now pigs -- but Limetown still finds a way to make us forget tin foil hats even exist, mostly via the very human performances of the supporting cast, the snarky no-nonsense attitude of Biel’s character, and the abundance of ambiguity in each episode that allows viewers’ minds to run away with possibilities of what could happen next. On an emotional level, there’s also a recurring theme of grief and how to deal with it, which is reminiscent of another Facebook Watch drama, Sorry for Your Loss.
While not the most action-packed thing in the world, what Limetown lacks in explosions it makes up for in mystery, emotion and a story that’s more cerebral than anything else. It's crazy to think that this new-age thriller was once a podcast sensation, but it makes total sense when you learn it was rated No. 1 on iTunes. The same qualities that made it pop as an auditory experience make it just that much better in the medium it finds itself in now. No matter what happened to the residents of Limetown, the journey for the truth will be an intriguing one.
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