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When Ozark was released on Netflix, fans were in awe as they found the perfect crime drama involving a family. Kevin Williamson’s The Waterfront involves a more twisted tale in the same genre as Ozark. The series follows the Buckley family, living in a town in North Carolina, whose fishing and food business is dying, and they have to find other ways to keep themselves standing on their feet.
This causes the son, Cane Buckley, to enter the drug smuggling game of the town, bringing his father, Harlan Buckley, right into the criminal activities that his family had been doing for a long but he extracted himself out of it. This new development brings the family together and against when their attempt to get back to a familiar business does not end up like it used to be.
Apart from sharing a similar theme with Ozark, The Waterfront also has various other elements that have helped the show to rise in the ranks and become one of the fan favorite recent shows. Here are three reasons behind The Waterfront’s quick popularity among fans.
Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion and spoilers. Readers’ discretion is advised.
3 reasons behind The Waterfront becoming a fan favorite so quickly, explained
1) Based on the true story of Kevin Williamson
Crime thrillers always receive a positive response from viewers, and when you add the element of it being based on a true story, it adds a new layer of excitement among fans. The Waterfront is said to be inspired by the show creator, Kevin Williamson’s true story.
Just like the Buckleys, Williamson grew up in a fishing community, as most of his family members were fishermen, including his father. His mother worked in a hotel. The aesthetic used in the series with the fishing boats and docks, and the ocean might just be a scenic view, but for Williamson, he tried to create something out of his own memory, as he lived in a similar community.
The patriarch of the Buckleys, Harlan Buckley, is based on Kevin Williamson’s father, who was a fisherman. But after the industry was destroyed due to various reasons and there were not enough fish, the community, including Williamson’s father, began using their boats to smuggle drugs, which resulted in his imprisonment for under a year. In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Williamson said:
"He was trying to support his family, and he made a decision, and he ultimately was caught, and he paid the price, and he went to prison, very much like Jody Potter's dad. If you watch Dawson's Creek, Joey Potter's dad was in prison for conspiracy to traffic marijuana in excess of 20,000 pounds. That was my dad's charge. Exactly."
Williamson uses this story to curate a tale about a family who find themselves in a similar situation and have to deal with the consequences of delving into criminal activities. Not just Harlan, the whole family is inspired by Williamson's own family, including himself.
2) Stellar cast and the layered characters they played
A great story needs a good cast to back it up and let it find its own ground. The stellar cast of The Waterfront is the heart of the show. If you have seen Mindhunter, you will be drawn to The Waterfront due to Holt McCallany’s performance. In Mindhunter, Holt’s Bill Tench accompanied Jonathan Groff’s Holden Ford to interview the most psychotic criminals of the US and help Ford with his struggle to get too invested in his job.
In The Waterfront, Holt plays Harlan Buckley, a character trying to find a motive in his life to get over his mental struggles with his deteriorating body. The motive that arises due to his son, Cane, takes him back to the criminal business he had left behind.
Other than Holt, the cast also includes Maria Bello (Beef, Lights Out), Jake Weary (Animal Kingdom, It franchise), and Melissa Benoist (Arrowverse), among others. These characters introduced the flawed Buckley family that has many conflicts within themselves, but still show up for each other — not because of family relations, but because of their sincere and honest care for each other.
3) A compelling narrative with the right blend of dark and thriller themes
Williamson is known for his knack for horror and thriller genres, as we have seen in the I Know What You Did Last Summer and the Scream films. He knows how to blend two genres and create the most intriguing tales.
While The Waterfront might not be a horror show, it still has dark components. It also introduces a family that has so many struggles of their own, even without including the drug-related criminal activities, and these issues are addressed at the right time and layer by layer. For instance, Benoit’s character, Bree, a recovering addict and the daughter of the family, might appear as the snitch of the family, the one who would make them go down, but as the series progresses, we get to know the past of her character and her struggles that make us empathise with her.
But, this peeling layers of the characters doesn't make it feel like the story is dragging, as it perfectly evades those slow moments and tells the story effectively in just eight episodes. The evenly paced series will make you go from one episode right after the next, as there is always something new to find out in every episode.
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You can watch all the episodes of The Waterfront on Netflix to find out more about the Buckleys.
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