By Curt Schleier

Like beauty, weird is in the eyes of the beholder. One man’s David Lynch is another man’s Steven Spielberg. I admit that I, for one, fall into the Spielberg camp. It’s not that I need linear filmmaking to enjoy a show — nevertheless, I instinctively bristle when directors labor to obscure their work rather than make it accessible. And, it’s not just directors who make me fume; I also get upset with members of the critical community who frequently abet the Lynches of the world, perhaps fearing scorn if they yell that the emperor has no clothes.
   
As an aside, consider the largely favorable critical reaction to the late Stanley Kubrick’s EYES WIDE SHUT. How could anyone say something negative about a film by the man who gave us classics such as DR. STRANGELOVE, SPARTACUS and PATHS OF GLORY? Well, few did. Yet, when I saw the film, I was convinced that Kubrick, who passed away shortly after completing it, died of embarrassment.
   
While I don’t believe any of the creatives behind the new Showtime series MEADOWLANDS (Sundays at 10 p.m.) need worry about going to that great film studio in the sky anytime soon, watching it is an exercise in confusion. 
   
The Meadowlands is a planned community of homes and shops laid out in a way to make it entirely self-contained. You can live your whole life there and never leave — which is kind of the idea. It is supposed to be a safe haven from the outside world, because it was built by the British government to house people in the witness protection program.
   
We don’t know the story behind the Meadowlands when we first see the Brogans.  They are blindfolded and being brought to a new home there. (Why they are blindfolded is a mystery, since their location isn’t a secret. They are provided with a car and can leave.)  The Brogans are dysfunction at its very best.  Father Danny (David Morrissey) had something in his past. We don’t know what it is, but he has nightmares that involve a house fire.
   
Daughter Zoe (Felicity Jones) is a nymphomaniac. Her twin brother, Mark (Harry Treadaway), has been diagnosed with ADD and autism, among other ailments, and hasn’t spoken in months. And, mom Evelyn (Lucy Coho) doesn’t consider the Meadowlands as an opportunity to start anew —  rather, she sees it as a village of the damned.
   
And, with good reason. Everyone has a backstory. The local cop is sadistic. The next-door neighbor is delusional. The handyman sexually abuses women. And so on, and so on. Meadowlands isn’t a safe harbor, but a prison from which they may never escape; an actual village of the damned.
   
I suppose there is some higher purpose here, something having to do with secrets and never outrunning your past. It might have worked if there was just one normal character viewers could relate to. The next episode, perhaps?  Meanwhile, Kubrick may have provided me with a clue on how to watch MEADOWLANDS. That’s right: with my eyes wide shut!