By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
One of the first observations upon watching this episode was the abrupt beginning. Will Anthros is dead, despite some of the plot elements introduced in the pilot that were specifically tied to his character, and Jamie is not dealing with the situation well. Over the course of the episode, other minor changes and shifts emerge, some without much context at all. It may simply be the necessary adjustments required to phase from a pilot to a weekly series or the effect of the production staff changes, but it feels like the series has undergone a more substantial reboot.
I was tempted to check the production schedule to see if an episode had been removed. It certainly feels as though motivations and attitudes had changed based on some unseen circumstance. Jamie’s character doesn’t quite mesh with what was seen in the pilot, and some of her decisions seemed forced. Part of the problem is that we don’t really know Jamie yet, especially given the absurdity of her unique situation, so we have no idea if her mood swings are normal or a response to massive stress. The writers need to give us a stronger foundation for understanding why the character acts as she does.
The pilot set up a wide spectrum of influences for Jamie. The more compassionate influences were Will and Becca. With Will gone, breaking the balance, the rest of the secret agency surrounding Jamie becomes less well-defined as a result. Now they are a conglomerate of conflicting self-interested agendas. That can be interesting, but a lot of context is lacking and motivations are still murky at best. Consider a comparison to “Alias”: it was equally complicated, perhaps even more so, but the first few episodes were seamless and established the status quo in a straightforward manner.
Isaiah Washington is a strong addition to the cast, bringing the same amount of gravitas to the production that he possessed on “Grey’s Anatomy”. Hopefully his off-screen issues will remain in the background, allowing his performance to dominate discussion. He works well with Michelle Ryan, which could help her gain more confidence in her role. As Jamie, she definitely brings the pretty (love the end of the title sequence!), but she stands out among some of the seasoned and superior cast members.
One complaint is the portrayal of Sarah Corvus. In the pilot, her motivations were very straightforward: she had lost her humanity and she wanted to wipe out those responsible, despite her preference for her new form. Now she claims to have been hacked and misunderstood. It could be a ploy, of course, but the abrupt shift could easily be an attempt to steer away from a concept that worked in the pilot but was rejected for the series.
The concern is that this high-profile series went through a number of changes and shake-ups prior to hitting the air, and it’s already noticeable. This latest retooling could work out in the end, but the audience could quickly tire of the rough edges.
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