Parents' Guide to Wreck

With bright colors and comic vibe that lightens up the sudden, shocking violence, this comedy-horror series goes down easily and makes a good weekend binge. A cruise ship is a superior setting for a murder mystery: There are lots of tracking shots down long corridors, mysterious dark corners, menacing doorways, and tension suddenly broken by the entrance of laughing passengers or crew members. Jamie is a sympathetic lead on a sympathetic quest, and it's easy to relate to both him and to his coworkers, though viewers should be warned not to relate too much, as the members of the large cast are picked off one by one, slasher-movie-style.

It's actually pretty easy to figure out who's doing the murdering and why, but Wreck isn't a series that invites or rewards deep thought. Instead, it's fun to lose yourself in the absurdity of a killer who dresses in a yellow duck costume and in the interpersonal workings of the Sacramentum. According to Wreck, what's going on below the passenger decks is blend of a wild party and high school, with characters dividing themselves into warring cliques. The energy is like Mean Girls crossed with Scream, and even if there are few real narrative surprises, the kooky visuals, fun characters, and interesting setting is enough to carry viewers along pleasantly.