The premiere of Cape Fear takes a while to establish the characters and setting, but ultimately sets up an extremely compelling premise. Much of the beginning and middle of the episode is devoted to the Bowden family, helmed by two rich, successful lawyers. Their teenage daughter serves as an anchor for the family, especially given the online secrets their teenage son is harboring. Much of the focus is on Anna Bowden’s job, helping prisoners who were wrongfully accused get set free. “Fingers & Toes” gains extreme momentum when Max Cady is revealed to have gotten out of prison. It becomes clear that Anna was his defense, Tom Bowden was his prosecutor, and the two got married after Cady was incarcerated. Tensions escalate when Anna’s son, Zack, goes missing on the same day Cady crashes a fundraiser for Anna’s organization. After Cady surprises the Bowdens at their home, Zack comes back. The episode concludes with an exciting cliffhanger, revealing that Zack’s middle toe was cut off. 

Not only does the episode begin slowly, but much of the attention given to the characters and the world only serves to highlight the story’s more generic elements and themes. For example, it is quickly apparent that Zack’s troubles relate to the online space, but spending more time with him only yields more scenes in which the teenage characters talk unnaturally or interact with a glaringly fictional version of the internet. Additionally, the premise of Cady’s revenge is a great way to question the justice system and the Bowdens’ role in it, but everything feels slightly hollow by his arrival because most of the first half of the episode is spent with the Bowdens expositing tons of information about their lives or loudly questioning their morality. None of these elements is inherently negative, but the time in which the show spends on them only makes them seem more repetitive and sluggish. This is made especially apparent in how much more exciting the show gets when Max Cady physically arrives. 

Ignoring some on-the-nose dialogue of a man who’s gone crazy, Cady’s inclusion adds an incredible, volatile flavor to the episode. The setup for his vengeance is so compelling that it completely overshadows the first half of the episode, which plays out much more like a typical mystery thriller. Revealing a little more about the dynamic between Cady, Anna, and Tom earlier could have made the episode much more engaging, especially if delivered in a more creative way than just having the characters watch the news. Still, Cady’s personality and the incredible performances make the longer dialogue scenes incredibly magnetic, even if some of the dialogue is slightly basic. The most glaring aspect of the show is Zack’s character and his interaction with the internet. This adaptation embraces a modern perspective, bringing a unique perspective to a seventy-year-old book that already has two adaptations. Some of the ways Zack interacts with the online world seem unrealistic and exaggerated, but the show’s attention to how teenage boys’ interactions with the internet inform their real-life relationships is an interesting topic, especially given how it follows the trends of similar shows such as last year’s Adolescence. Overall, despite a simplistic setup, “Fingers & Toes” sets the stage for a unique, exciting story. 

Rating: 6/10