I found the first episode less impressive than I had hoped. Patrick Stewart was nowhere near even his ST:TNG form, much less the stage presence we know he is capable of. It felt a bit weak, not quite "phoned in", but unenthusiastic.
I was really bothered though by the lack of sophistication in the thinking behind the scientific issues involved. After all this is a show about a "government scientist" (who introduces himself as "Alan Hood, Scientist"--which I find hard to imagine coming out of any scientist's mouth: is he a physicist, a bioethicist, biohazard specialist, geneticist, medical experimenter, or what? Am I too picky here? It just didn't ring true...) Episode one was a drama about illegal human cloning, with the police refusing to take an interest because "there's no murder here". (If Hood has no authority, then in what sense does he "work for the government"?) At no point was it clearly expressed what was actually wrong with the human cloning that was going on. (Stewart rolled his eyes and bellowed that it was "repugnant", "abhorrent", and such things, but at no point explained why.) OK, it was self-evident that the exploitation of young surrogate mothers was wrong, but this was not a drama about exploitation--although it handled the issue well. I would have liked to see more medical ethics covered, after all it is a serious issue and the only way to keep such matters from being judged by the "morality of repugnance" is to educate the public as to some of the issues involved.
But as I say this is only the first episode. I'll watch a few more and see if other issues are better handled. This sort of show often takes a few hours to grow into itself, so I remain hopeful.
I was really bothered though by the lack of sophistication in the thinking behind the scientific issues involved. After all this is a show about a "government scientist" (who introduces himself as "Alan Hood, Scientist"--which I find hard to imagine coming out of any scientist's mouth: is he a physicist, a bioethicist, biohazard specialist, geneticist, medical experimenter, or what? Am I too picky here? It just didn't ring true...) Episode one was a drama about illegal human cloning, with the police refusing to take an interest because "there's no murder here". (If Hood has no authority, then in what sense does he "work for the government"?) At no point was it clearly expressed what was actually wrong with the human cloning that was going on. (Stewart rolled his eyes and bellowed that it was "repugnant", "abhorrent", and such things, but at no point explained why.) OK, it was self-evident that the exploitation of young surrogate mothers was wrong, but this was not a drama about exploitation--although it handled the issue well. I would have liked to see more medical ethics covered, after all it is a serious issue and the only way to keep such matters from being judged by the "morality of repugnance" is to educate the public as to some of the issues involved.
But as I say this is only the first episode. I'll watch a few more and see if other issues are better handled. This sort of show often takes a few hours to grow into itself, so I remain hopeful.