I gave the pilot a chance (yes, only because it was RIGHT after LOST) and decided there was enough potential to give the show a month's worth of opportunity to involve me. The hour pilot, in and of itself, was pretty lack-luster, offering nothing new to the genre and plopping the viewer down in the middle of a series of family crises with little explanation as to why things are the way they are. The initial hurricane lasts about 15 minutes - with the most impressive visual moment really being the first shot or two of the hurricane plane. From then on follows a series of X-Files type moments - the floating lights seen only by the little girl, the discovery of two missing people found without clothes and seeming disoriented. the discovery of a strange and alien like skeleton . . . and at least one human character who clearly knows what is really going on.
In fact, the show's biggest obstacle is its familiarity. Rather than breaking new ground, it is now one of MANY new entries in this emerging genre of "Serial" drama - 24 had the luxury of being the first cliff-hanger driven prime-time show - LOST has the luxury of it's fantastically unique setting and plot - but INVASION? It is familiar ground - think X-FILES meets INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. And that is the obstacle it must overcome - if it is to survive, it needs to QUICKLY generate something unique - and so far, it has not. It's best asset HAS to be its characters - and none of them broke out of any stereotypical mode in the first hour. The writing was pretty transparent - the acting was serviceable.
Let's break it down: 1) A divorced father with two children (Hmmm . . . never seen that before!) 2) But wait, his ex-wife now remarried is also a lead character (oh wait, that's been done to death as well - doesn't ANYONE stay married on TV?) 3) Brother and Sister of the divorced couple, having to chose loyalties between the parents 4) TV News Anchor - hmmm . . . how many episodes till she "uncovers" some truth and becomes the target of a death plot? I give it three episodes to get to that point.
5) Saving the best for last - we have the "Conspiracy Theory" young adult male who "MAY JUST BE ON TO THE TRUTH THIS TIME!" Yep, it's THAT predictable folks! So, with an unimpressive list of characters and a well-traveled path to go down, I'm afraid the cards are stacked AGAINST this show - but, as I said, I will still give it a chance for the simple reason that you DO want to know what's going on with the three apparently "Body-Snatched" people - are they Pod People, have they been Possessed? If nothing else, it will be interesting to see which alien invasion movie they most copy.
At best, you can pretend it is an extended X-FILES episode, knowing that Mulder and Scully are out there on a different case right now, but they'll get here . . . someday?
In fact, the show's biggest obstacle is its familiarity. Rather than breaking new ground, it is now one of MANY new entries in this emerging genre of "Serial" drama - 24 had the luxury of being the first cliff-hanger driven prime-time show - LOST has the luxury of it's fantastically unique setting and plot - but INVASION? It is familiar ground - think X-FILES meets INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. And that is the obstacle it must overcome - if it is to survive, it needs to QUICKLY generate something unique - and so far, it has not. It's best asset HAS to be its characters - and none of them broke out of any stereotypical mode in the first hour. The writing was pretty transparent - the acting was serviceable.
Let's break it down: 1) A divorced father with two children (Hmmm . . . never seen that before!) 2) But wait, his ex-wife now remarried is also a lead character (oh wait, that's been done to death as well - doesn't ANYONE stay married on TV?) 3) Brother and Sister of the divorced couple, having to chose loyalties between the parents 4) TV News Anchor - hmmm . . . how many episodes till she "uncovers" some truth and becomes the target of a death plot? I give it three episodes to get to that point.
5) Saving the best for last - we have the "Conspiracy Theory" young adult male who "MAY JUST BE ON TO THE TRUTH THIS TIME!" Yep, it's THAT predictable folks! So, with an unimpressive list of characters and a well-traveled path to go down, I'm afraid the cards are stacked AGAINST this show - but, as I said, I will still give it a chance for the simple reason that you DO want to know what's going on with the three apparently "Body-Snatched" people - are they Pod People, have they been Possessed? If nothing else, it will be interesting to see which alien invasion movie they most copy.
At best, you can pretend it is an extended X-FILES episode, knowing that Mulder and Scully are out there on a different case right now, but they'll get here . . . someday?