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Silent but deadly: An attorney's past comes back to haunt him in 'Game of Silence'

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Jacqueline Spendlove / TV Media
David Lyons stars in "Game of Silence"

David Lyons stars in "Game of Silence"

Showrunners for NBC’s upcoming drama have looked to the East for inspiration. “Game of Silence” is adapted from the hit Turkish series “Suskunlar,” which has aired in more than 30 countries and proved to be a social media phenomenon. The American version proves that you can't escape your past when a group of childhood friends reunites after 25 years to take on a mystery that’s tied up with a long-buried secret. “Game of Silence” premieres Thursday, April 7, on NBC.

Despite a traumatic period in his childhood, Jackson Brooks (David Lyons, “Revolution”) has built a happy and impressive life for himself. The rising-star attorney is engaged to his boss, and the prospect of making partner with his firm is within arm's reach. Everything changes, however, when he gets a surprising visit from the friends he hasn’t seen since he was a boy.

Jackson’s childhood was lovely, until it was wasn’t. Like so many of us in our youth, he had a tight-knit group of friends who became his world: Gil Harris (Michael Raymond-James, “True Blood”), Shawn Polk (Larenz Tate, “Rescue Me”) and Boots (Derek Phillips, “Friday Night Lights”). The four formed a brotherhood punctuated by token gal pal Jessie (Bre Blair, “Last Vegas,” 2013), whose need to escape from her alcoholic mother sparked the events that happened one summer when the kids were 13 years old, and changed their lives for good.

When the boys’ attempt to rescue their friend goes wrong, leading to a terrible accident, they’re sentenced to what Jackson describes in the trailer as “one of the worst places on Earth”: Quitman Youth Detention Facility. The nine months that follow prove to be a living nightmare from which none of them truly recover, effectively breaking up their tight bond and idyllic lives as they attempt to bury the past and forget what they went through.

Twenty-five years later, however, Boots is arrested and needs Jackson’s help. Jackson's willing to give it, but his old friends’ sudden reappearance in his life begins to dredge up all the memories Jackson’s worked for 25 years to keep buried.

The story draws clear comparisons to “Mystic River” (2003) or, even more closely, “Sleepers” (1996), with a group of old friends being pulled together in adulthood to face a trauma they experienced together as children. “Suskunlar,” however, was inspired by true events after the reality of the horrors of Turkey’s Pozanti Prison surfaced.

“Before starting on the project I did a lot of research, and I discovered that child abuse is much more active than most people realize,” said “Suskunlar” star Murat Yildirim in an interview that appeared in Turkish Marie Claire in 2012. “With this story being told on television, there will be others who will discuss their own stories [of abuse].”

Larenz Tate as seen in "Game of Silence"

Larenz Tate as seen in "Game of Silence"

When “Game of Silence” showrunners came across the story, they were eager to bring it to American audiences. “It was a huge hit in Turkey, and then it was sent all over the world,” said executive producer Julie Weitz at a Television Critics Association Q&A. “Because of its themes, it just became a show that everybody could relate to.”

The freshman season revolves around a central mystery, with each episode revealing a little more about each character and his or her back story, with the cast’s younger selves appearing in frequent flashback sequences to give insight into their experiences at Quitman.

The characters’ young counterparts are played by Curran Walters (“Growing Up and Down,” 2014) as Jackson, Judah Lewis (“Demolition,” 2015) as Gil, and McCarrie McCausland (“Army Wives”) as Shawn. Cannon Kluytman takes on his first television gig in his role of Boots, and Katie Kelly (“Language of a Broken Heart,” 2011) plays Jessie.

“Each one of these characters has a story,” said executive producer David Hudgins at the TCA panel. “Each one of these characters has a secret. In most cases, it’s about how they’re trying to survive and get through and get by and get on with their lives.”

“What our audiences will see is that they can plug into all of these storylines for different reasons,” added cast member Demetrius Grosse. "They’re very dimensional and dynamic people that we’re going to explore.”

The season will end in a culmination of these stories and a resolution to the overlying mystery that connects them. It will also set the stage for a second season, which showrunners are hoping they’ll secure. After all, despite the characters’ attempts to separate and forget each other, it’s clear that their past has linked them for good.

“Friends are relatives you choose for yourself,” said Raymond-James at the Q&A. “[These people] can’t take away their past. They can’t take away that trauma that happened. That’s a bond that will forever hold them together.”

For now, though, we'll just see where the freshman season takes them. Don’t miss the premiere of “Game of Silence” when it airs Thursday, April 7, on NBC.