...And Then There Were Four is a four-part series directed by Stephen Sommers (Van Helsing, The Mummy, Bram Stoker's Dracula), written by John Thomas (Ghostbusters II) and starring the legendary Sir Christopher Lee, Ray Park (Enter the Dragon, Fist of Legend), Paul Campbell (The Golden Compass), and Rory McCann (The Wolfman)....Continued In the premiere episode of A & TTWF, the crew is called to a secluded estate to investigate a murder at the home of renowned British actor Lord Fyresby. Upon arrival, they encounter a strange, ghostly apparition, and discover an entire family of ghastly inhabitants seemingly trapped in a house without end. While working with the deceased Lord's ghost to communicate, the investigation expands into a much deeper mystery concerning the afterlife itself...and what happens when it's broken. The second episode features Lady Fyresby, the deceased Lady's devoted attendant who finds herself at odds with her master's disembodied spirit. Together they attempt to unlock the mysteries of the house that holds more secrets than even they could have imagined... Featuring the return of guest star and friend of the show Paul Campbell (The Dark is Rising, Fogbound), A & TTWF is produced by Rory (Abraxas, The Exorcist) McCann (The Dark is Rising, Fogbound), directed by Paul Campion (Abraxas, The Dark is Rising, Fogbound), and stars Christopher Lee (Highlander, Lord of the Rings) and Paul Campbell (The Dark is Rising, Fogbound) as himself....Continued A & TTWF: A & TTWF: The Afterlife Part 2 I've been an enthusiastic, rabid fan of A & TTWF from the start. My interest in the supernatural, along with my love of the darkly fantastic, immediately made A & TTWF one of my favorite shows on the SyFy channel. I'd waited for almost two years for A & TTWF to continue, but I was disappointed to hear that it was officially canceled in its new, final form. The second and third seasons aired concurrently with the first, to the point that there were no references in any episode to the events of the first. Instead, these seasons seemed to have little continuity at all. The series was retooled and renamed to the more generic sounding A & TTWF: Nightmares in 2004. For reasons unclear, the final episodes aired under the A & TTWF name, making it look like the show had gone on for another season after all, even though it never did. Even after the cancellation and retooling, the show maintained its unique edge that kept me interested in spite of the general lack of continuity. To hear that it had continued to the present day would be beyond my wildest expectations. Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, it's also become one of the most disappointing mysteries of all time. Upon its first airing, the premiere episode of A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2 was greeted by a somewhat controversial critical response from viewers. This was no shock; the genre has always been a difficult sell, and horror in particular has faced a reputation that makes many people stay away from it entirely. Some of the comments that were posted in the various message boards at the time went so far as to call A & TTWF a cheesy ripoff of the old TV series Tales from the Darkside. One critic went so far as to write that the show "sucks balls," while another described it as "so bad it must be bad." The truth is that A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2 is actually a lot worse than the most extreme of these critics expected. This may have to do with my own perception of the series, which began as high expectations for a show about the supernatural that would appeal to me. The fact that A & TTWF is a British series, with its unique spin on the supernatural genre, only increased my interest in it. I liked the show so much that the second season was actually the first TV show to follow me home. I was incredibly excited to see the return of Paul Campbell as The Dark is Rising's The Black Angel. I was also eager to see Christopher Lee. All the hype had gotten to me, so I had been expecting something far above what I eventually got. What I got instead was far below expectations. The initial problem with A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2 is that it feels very much like a copy of A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 1. A & TTWF began in 2002, and the initial Afterlife episode aired in January 2003. A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2 debuted in September 2005, and episodes have continued to air on the SyFy channel each Monday night, just like before. But whereas A & TTWF was originally built around Sir Christopher Lee's The Dark is Rising, A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2 lacks the same sense of consistency and purpose. This is the least interesting episode of the series, largely because we're given far too many characters and subplots to keep track of. The "twist" at the end is that the initial death at Lord Fyresby's house, like many similar houses in the series, has its own secrets that are not at all what one would expect. This is the kind of mystery that would work fine in a short story or novel, but the show feels bloated and long by comparison, and I'd much rather watch an episode of The X-Files or The Twilight Zone. Unfortunately, many episodes of The Twilight Zone have more twists and turns than A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2 offers. This is especially clear in the second episode, titled A & TTWF: The Afterlife Part 1. This episode offers two episodes' worth of content, with a surprising new character that comes into play halfway through the first half. As a whole, this could have been done as one half-hour installment of a series of shorts. The concept could have been used to set up a third and fourth episode in the same way as the second half of the first episode, but instead the show plods along as if it wants to stretch it out. The second episode suffers greatly from many of the same problems I find in all of A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2, only worse. Many of the characters are still too shallow, there is no consistency of tone, and too much is happening too quickly. It's a pretty miserable experience, as if something isn't working, they throw a wrench into it and hope it will come together later. The characters who seem to be a part of the show because they're related to someone don't need to be there. They're so thinly sketched out that their presence serves as nothing more than a gimmick, and their only function is as pawns to move around in the story. The lack of continuity is also frustrating. The second episode includes characters who I've never seen before, and they're just introduced off the bat as if that makes sense. We're given characters who interact with characters who have been off the air for two years, without giving any explanation for why this is happening. This is one of those series where you wonder if any of the actors involved in it even watch the show, as it seems that if they had more than a cursory glance at a script, they would be appalled. This is a show that's so awful in parts that it's painful to watch, and I'm always thankful when it's over. If A & TTWF: Afterlife Part 2 weren't bad enough, fans of the show are outraged to hear that it will be receiving a third season in spite of the show's utter lack of critical success. This simply can't be happening. The final episode