On the Acting:
Amy Acker pulls the beating heart from the characters she portrays and puts it on full display. Even characters that might seem unlikable on paper become people who are easy to empathize with and even love through her portrayal. Tory Ayres is no exception.
I seem to be in the minority with this one, but Mariel Molino does a great job of portraying Elena. The flattened affect seems to be consequence of Elena's upbringing and I found her believable, and easy to like and empathize with.
Kelly Bishop is as usual a delight to watch, I found Warren Christie's character compelling, and I think in general the actors portraying the older adults did well and were believable/ interesting to watch. The actors playing the kids also did well. Unfortunately the "young adult" group had acting that I can best describe as rough and I'll leave it at that.
On the Plot/Characters:
It's mostly typical freeform fare: there's a lot of YA drama and cheesy relationships which aren't my jam, but that's to be expected with my being in my mid-twenties and decidedly not the target audience here. Most of the side-plots involving the nanny group weren't all that interesting, and seemed shoehorned in at times.
That being said, there *were* some really interesting characters and plot threads to be found.
The Santos's family dynamics were really well done, and it's clear that the writers really thought about the kind of people who would come out of that kind of situation. And the parallels to the Ayres family are super neat to have. You have a parent who has done and continues to do awful things, and two children: one trying desperately to protect that parent and the other running as far as they can in the other direction.
The truth of Tory's character is slowly unfurled through the series and by the finale, you're on her side. Even if you didn't like her in the pilot, you don't want anything else bad to happen to her. How both Tory and Dick felt about their marital situation, and the beliefs they held with respect to themselves and each other made sense and informed what happened in the finale, making it as believable as it was horrifying and tragic.
The supernatural element of the ghost was not too overdone, and through how mad it drives Elena we understand Charlotte more as a character.
And overall the series' exploration of grief was well done, with the birthday episode being a real gem in that regard.
I would say that where this series shines is not in the investigation plot, but in the believable and compelling ways that character dynamics are fleshed out. The background we learn informs the characters' actions and emotions, and that is where it matters.
