“Falcon Beach” Season 1 (2006, ABC Family) – Want a Minnesota-based drama? You can scour the annals of the small screen and won’t find one. That’s why we should celebrate ABC Family’s “Falcon Beach” (8 p.m. Mondays). No, it’s not filmed or set here. It’s filmed on the shores of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is set in an unspecified fictional location.
But Winnipeg – in nature and culture, weather and values – is not far removed from Minnesota, and “Falcon Beach” is certainly a kindred spirit to whatever a Brainerd lakes area summer soap would be called – “Whipple Beach,” maybe?
And, you know, this Midwestern “Dawson’s Creek” isn’t too bad. Arcade counter guy Danny (Ephram Ellis, the notorious Rick on “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” now getting to play the nice guy) lays out the town’s mindset to Erin (Melissa Elias): In the nine months when it’s not summer, everyone in Falcon Beach goes stir-crazy. In the other three, they let themselves be happy.
What makes Danny happy is Erin’s return to town for her lifeguard job when the weather turns hot. So when Erin announces she’s splitting town early with her new boyfriend, Danny begs her to stay. Amazingly – and this is what endeared the show to me – she agrees.
Meanwhile, Jason (Steve Byers) and Tanya (Devon Weigel) are childhood best buds who try to make a relationship work: He’s an ambition-challenged wakeboarder, she’s a prematurely exhausted magazine model. But look out: New-girl-in-town Paige (Jennifer Kydd) has a thing for wakeboarders.
The problem with the early episodes is that the writers have focused on Paige’s druggie brother (yawn) and problems with the family business (bigger yawn). Throw in a few decent Erin-and-Danny scenes and you can be my summer friend, “Falcon Beach.” B+
– John Hansen, “Aloha? Eh? You bet!,” Brainerd Dispatch, July 13, 2006