Monsters of Television

As part of the new fall season coverage, we’re doing what we call audition reviews for new shows. An audition review doesn’t necessarily mean the show will enter the normal rotation, but it will provide an initial reaction to a new series. Especially in light of time shifting practices, we think this is a valuable way to read brief reviews on new series to help you decide if you want to watch the show. For those who watch it live, it’s a good way to begin a conversation about a new series. These reviews will typically be shorter than our regular reviews, and may include thoughts from more than one of our writers.

The Event is the newest super-mystery show aiming to take over LOST‘s role as the hot mythology show on broadcast network TV. Interlocking characters, ambiguous questions and motivations, time out of joint (narratively speaking anyway). Oh, and Luke Danes without a baseball cap. Yeah, we dare you to recognize him without it, too.

Matt’s Take

I am immediately cautious of any show attempting to follow in LOST‘s footsteps. Unfair? Maybe. But looking at what has been attampted so far (Persons Unknown was awful, V is good when it wants to be, best contender FlashForward was unfortunately canceled) it’s easy to see why I’m so hesitant to get sucked into that type of hype again. Enter The Event.

Large ensemble cast of some relatively recognizable people, mysteries of ranging interest levels aplenty, cover-ups, blah blah blah. The Event doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the table. You can’t even form an opinion on the show based on the premise because the premise of the show is unclear. The marketing did a fantastic job of showing us a bunch of stuff and telling us that it’s not the event and the pilot doesn’t really shed much more light on what the event actually is.

I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. It felt like the pilot was more about showing us where they fit into this giant conspiracy rather than who they are as people. And no, that’s not a problem for far reaching shows with ensemble casts. Have you even see the LOST pilot?

The use of flashbacks got to be kind of obnoxious. I grew weary of going back in time. And farther back in time. Then forward again. And back again. It’s trying to make a more complicated puzzle than necessary so the audience thinks they’re really putting stuff in place. Sure there are a few things I want to understand, but I didn’t feel a “whoa what the hell is happening? I have to know!” feeling with any of the multiple story lines introduced.

Until the very end.

My mouth actually dropped when that weird glowy gate thing opened up in the sky. The Event instantly went from generic, intertwining storyline show about a government cover-up to a generic, intertwining storyline show about a government cover-up with a sci-fi twist. Intriguing, The Event. You now have my attention.

I’m not hooked but I will be back next week. I want it to be good. I want the next large scale sci-fi thriller mystery drama and I want it to stick around for that matter). Is The Event it? Eh, too early to tell. It’s no LOST, but then again what is?

Noel’s Take

9:00: Was that jittery, over saturated video the event? I demand to know!

9:02: Oh, so it’s going to keep going further and further back in time. Is the creation of the universe…the event?

9:05: Intertitle cards to help me keep track of people? I’d appreciate that, but only if the show appreciates its characters. Otherwise, that guy is going to be Intense Vaguely Asian Guy.

9:09: Did he think his SUV was going to stop that plane? Is the SUV a Transformer?

9:15: You will shoot him, Mr. Marshall? On a plane? Shouldn’t you have a taser to something that won’t cause the plane to TV explode?

9:18: I like Jason Ritter, but I think he’s better at being funny than he is at being serious. Also: did this cruise take them to The Island? Did Hurley become Mr. Roarke and Ben is now Tattoo?

9:21: Jason Ritter’s girlfriend’s dad is way too involved. Is her last name Erickson?

9:29: This is this president’s vacation? Oh, you know Fox or MSNBC is furiously punditing about how he can’t take a vacation in America … Is Glen Beck’s or Rachel Maddow’s  birth the event?

9:31: Sometimes working in media res can work for a show, but I find that today’s screenwriters have no idea how to do it well.

9:32: Once again, by the way, The Event misses exactly what made Lost compelling television: characters. These aren’t characters in The Event; they’re talking heads, spouting ambiguous comments and questions at one another, giving us zero reason to invest in this show. Lost built its characters in the pilot, doling out mysteries (the transmission, the smoke monster noise), but the focus was on what these people did to survive. Every mythology show after Lost has missed this essential quality, assuming that audiences came for the mystery. No. Audiences left the show slowly as Lost‘s mythology came to the forefront, they didn’t stick with it. How have people missed this?

9:42: Oh hell, that’s Luke! I didn’t recognize him without a baseball cap. Costume typecasting sucks.

9:47: They did not not try and re-introduce me to Jason Ritter’s character. I mean, I admit I totally forgot his character’s name, but still. Also, pretty sure I know what the event is. Twins from an alternate dimension, right? A literalization of Lacan’s mirror stage? (Oy, I know. That was wrong.)

9:53: “Where’s my girlfriend?” is so not the new “WAAAAALLT!” or “MAH BABY’S SICK!”

9:57: I can’t complain about a giant glowy gate in the sky because I was okay with an entire island disappearing.

9:58: Why the hell didn’t I watch Lonestar?