‘666 Park Avenue’ episode 2 review: Wait, what is actually going on here?

Last week, “666 Park Avenue” really wanted to be “American Horror Story” all over again. This time around, the show was a little bit more interested in trying to be “The Shining.” The issue here is that we are really not sure that any of them work. What we really saw from Sunday night’s new episode was a fine example of a show that is probably trying to do too much, even if we admire its gumption for really trying to be scary.

The saddest element of this show is that there really is so much potential here. Terry O’Quinn and Vanessa Williams are fantastic actors, and the show’s setting in the Drake is a pretty cool place for all sorts of insane things to happen. The problem is that each episode should focus on a few stories rather than too many to keep track of. This week, we had a date that went incredibly awry, a woman who predicts things with a rabbit’s foot, a test by Gavin (O’Quinn) to see if Henry (Dave Annable) is a man with integrity, bats and birds living at the residence, and the return of that creepy woman who likes to be watched in a state of undress. It was all incredibly strange, but the real issue here is that there wasn’t enough substance to back up the strangeness. We don’t know enough about the building’s history, and we don’t know enough about the characters to feel for them if something happens.

Ultimately, we’re looking at “666 Park Avenue” right now as a player on “Survivor” who goes in, makes five alliances, and ends up getting themselves in trouble; they’re either going to get voted off the first night, or find a way to rise from the ashes and stay a while. Unfortunately for the show, we’re betting more on the former given its ratings. It has some serious explaining to do, and it better do it fast.

Are you enjoying this show, and would you enjoy it more if things slowed down a little?