Billy Crystal Apple TV+ Drama Is a Mess

The promotional materials for “Before” describe the Apple TV+ thriller as “atmospheric,” which is a euphemistic way of saying the 10-part season is a lot of vamping for precious little payoff. Even with half-hour episodes, several coming in under the 25-minute mark, this drama still manages to drag, endlessly repeating the same setups and visual themes to buy time until an unsatisfying conclusion. In a serial form like television, atmosphere without momentum is a recipe for a stagnant swamp.

One can at least admire “Before” for prioritizing its dreary, mudbound mood over even its central performance, the element so many other limited series build themselves around in the hopes star power will attract our divided attention. Created by Sarah Thorp (“Damien”), “Before” stars Billy Crystal as Eli Adler, a child psychologist reeling from the death of his wife Lynn (Judith Light) after a long battle with cancer. But despite Crystal’s involvement as an executive producer, the comedy legend’s first series regular role since 2015 — remember “The Comedians”? — is a frustrating waste of his sardonic charm.

Eli’s grief is interrupted by the arrival of Noah (Jacobi Jupe), a troubled 8-year-old who seems drawn to Eli even before he’s officially in the older man’s care. Noah’s condition has some uncanny attributes: He draws a farmhouse that’s a carbon copy of a photograph Lynn left behind, and “Before” situates us in his hallucinations, which feature wriggling tentacles and rising waters that recall the bathtub Lynn died in. The direction, established by pilot helmer Adam Bernstein, is at first effective in establishing an eerie, unsettling mood, as in Eli’s graphic nightmares about splattering into an empty swimming pool.

Yet Crystal’s actual performance is utterly devoid of the wry cynicism that defines his screen presence. “Before” isn’t exactly a case of a comedian turning self-serious in an overcorrecting attempt at prestige; Eli is initially established as a skeptic in denial, both about potentially paranormal aspects of Noah’s condition and his own lingering emotions. This desperately needed contrast comes out in brief flashes. (When Eli is told “the water energy is very powerful” in the space where Lynn spent her last moments, he replies: “Well, it is a bathroom.”) But this side of Eli is rapidly back-burnered in favor of mounting hysteria and endless exchanges with Noah that each follow an identical script. Noah, prompted by Eli to recall his mysterious past, enters a wordless state of terror; Eli, increasingly agitated, demands a nonverbal grade schooler tell him what’s going on.

Repetition of all kinds plagues “Before,” starting with its cast. Jupe acquits himself well for such a young performer, but he’s tasked with hammering the same beats over and over: Noah hallucinates. Noah trembles in fear. Noah freaks out, disturbing the adults around him. As Noah’s foster mother Denise, the great Rosie Perez sustains a single note of teary, shouty panic. In a steep competition, Light may be the most underserved of all as a textbook Dead Wife who haunts Eli’s existence as an often-mute avatar of guilt. Ava Lalezarzadeh rounds out a roster of underdeveloped supporting women as Cleo, Eli’s exposition delivery device of a Gen Z assistant.

While Eli spends more time with Noah, he, too, starts to see and hear things that aren’t there. Chief among these is the irregular beat of dripping water, a sound associated with torture for a reason. As the runtime of “Before” starts to far outpace any meaningful developments in its central mystery, the audience starts to identify with Eli’s agony a little too closely. By the end, the most suspense “Before” can muster is over why the show decided to pace its reveals the way it does — sporadically and without buildup to place them in any context.

Clues into what’s afflicting Noah are few and far between. During an early outburst, he starts speaking in Dutch, a curiosity Eli halfheartedly investigates before it’s forgotten for most of the series. Eli abruptly concludes Noah’s plight may have something to do with Lynn’s late ex-boyfriend, a character who’s never been mentioned until he suddenly plays a major role in the story. The plot’s final destination is so completely divorced from the hours prior that it seems beamed in from an entirely different show.

Many miniseries — most recently “Disclaimer,” another Apple project — stretch out a feature’s worth of plot to match their chosen medium. That isn’t quite the case with “Before,” which is something more confusing, and therefore more disappointing. The show could easily make more of Eli as a Dana Scully- type raising an eyebrow at the supernatural, or his strained relationship with adult daughter Barbara (Maria Dizzia). But it would rather spin its wheels, leading to a conclusion that sheds minimal light on Eli’s character. “Before” may build an atmosphere, but it’s at a loss for what to do, well, after.

The first two episodes of “Before” are now available to stream on Apple TV+, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Fridays.