You know how you think you know someone and then they go off and do something totally unexpected? Well that’s what’s happening right now. I worked with Bernie Su at the magazine I edited awhile back, he was our in-house technical guru / new media manager. I knew he was up to some stuff on the side while we worked together — I heard him mention Impulsive Productions a few times, as he was trying to get the company off the ground. I also knew he was doing script writing for a personal project. I’d see him and a bunch of people in the office on the weekends rehearsing and working on stuff; I thought it was a viral video comedy kinda thing he was trying to do. I stand corrected. He was writing and creating Compulsions, a super dark and suspenseful web series that delves into the secretive and violent lives of seemingly ordinary people.

I saw the first 4 episodes last night and was thoroughly impressed with what he created. If you like the tone of Dexter and the suspense of Prison Break mixed with the darkness of the Sopranos — crossed with a little bit of Swimming With Sharks — definitely give Compulsions a chance. I say give it a chance cuz if you’re like me, you’ve never once watched an online episode of anything. And I’m pretty much online all day long, too. I’ve now signed up for their newsletter so I won’t miss an episode. Seriously…Compulsions is smart, gritty, sophisticated and just plain serious content—regardless of whether or not it was created for the web. The main character is Mark Sandler, a seemingly normal dude that holds down a dull desk job during the day, who also happens to be a professional sadist by night. Then there’s his best friend and colleague Justine Davis, a sweet, innocent-appearing blonde who can pistol-whip like a pro. There’s also Cassandra Morrissey, a diligent IT geek who also happens to be an unrepentant voyeur using her IT skills to spy on employees at home and work. I can easily see HBO or Showtime picking up this show. I’d watch it. Until that day comes, though, new episodes will run every weekday through December 10, 2009 for an eight-episode season. You can watch it on the Compulsions site or on Dailymotion.