One of the most publicized and anticipated new shows of the fall kicks-0ff tonight.
NBC begins airing “The Event” at 9 p.m. EST.
For months, we’ve heard conflicting buzz about the show. Some critics aren’t huge fans, but those who gathered at ComicCon and saw the pilot loved it.
Here’s a sampling of what the critics have to say:
Monday’s premiere whips along, laying groundwork and mixing plot reveals and portentous pronouncements with some clever feints. Someone very powerful is clearly up to no good, but who that may be, and whether there’s someone or something equally powerful on the other side, are among the show’s many open questions.
Comic-Con attendees aside, the effort required to follow the story by co-executive producer/writer/creator Nick Wauters goes well beyond what most viewers might be willing to give. With its large ensemble cast and frequent flashbacks — visiting and revisiting events that occurred from 23 minutes to 13 months in the past — watching “Event” is like riding a contraption that is half time machine and half bumper car.
The pilot only hints at the grand arc of what is to occur. This includes a macro story with global implications and a micro tale about a normal, unsuspecting nice guy (Jason Ritter) who plans to pop the question on a Caribbean cruise but instead stumbles into a world of sabotage and intrigue.
Look, I know that “The Event” makes an easy punching bag because “Lost” just ended – in a manner that many of its viewers found unsatisfying – and because we’ve seen so many shows like this try and fail to succeed in the wake of “Lost.”
But the mistake “The Event” makes is less about the rate at which it chooses to explain things than about the lack of anything to care about beyond those mysteries. What made “Lost” work at the start wasn’t the mystery, but everything else: the characters, the setting, the action and scares and comedy and the rest. In fact, my initial reaction at the end of the “Lost” pilot was that it was so entertaining and filled with interesting stuff that I wasn’t sure if we needed the monster and the polar bears and other strange doings; I would have been happy for a long time just watching these people struggle to survive together in the middle of nowhere.
That show ultimately made me care about the mysteries (even if it didn’t always do a great job at solving them), but it built a foundation first and put the mysteries on top of that. The mistake that “The Event” makes – and that “FlashForward” and so many other shows like it have made before – is that it doesn’t bother with that foundation. It doesn’t bother (at least in this pilot) to give us three-dimensional characters to care about, doesn’t offer up anything of interest beyond scene after scene that invites the viewer to wonder what the hell is going on and when someone is going to step in to explain it.
This new show will likely spark some conversation on our Voice Mail show this week. But if you can’t wait until Friday to find out what others are thinking, you’re welcome to post your comments, thoughts and opinions on the premiere here and you can call into the Slice of SciFi VoiceMail line and let us know what you think there as well.
“The Event” airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.
I think this is a bomb. It’s so contrived that I was able to call almost every scene before it occured. They’re clearly trying to be a new ‘LOST’.
–So first …the whole flashback thing. Gee I wonder what other show did that.
–Next …the subliminal ‘Tropical Island’ and an airplane?
–Then…and this was the clincher…when Sean goes to get a new key for his room, and discovers the cruise records have no record of hin at all. Gee that NEVER happens in movies. How many times have you seen that very premise?
This is gonna suck.
Well Lost did loose its way midpoint, so its not as if Lost did everything right.
Perhaps it will pull together. In fact if you call yourself any kind of SciFi fan you are obligated to give it half a season to see if it comes good before you pass judgment.
As a first episode it was a big, Meh. Yes, it could get better in the next couple of episodes but I find a largely agree with sjanis232’s opinion.
That last review pretty much hits the nail on the head. Every house needs a good foundation. I still do not care about the characters. It’s only the pilot, so, whatever. However, I really hope they do not fall into the same pitfalls as Flash Forward.
You want to know why Fringe is the best series on tv, right now? I really really care about the characters. They are not all the most interesting people in the world, but I do care about them. I will not fault the Event for anything yet, but they could very easily screw this up.
I’m a big scifi fan..loved Lost, Jericho, Fringe, Invasion, Threshold, V, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Invasion, The4400, etc….but “The Event” really sucks! Terrible unlikable characters, and the flashbacks….STOP!!..they’re meaningless and confusing. We almost shut the show off during the insufferably loooong flashback of the so called hero meeting is girlfriend in the pool..said flashback taking place in the middle of a meaningless chase through a hospital. Why???
Having the mopey sullen boring Sophia as the alien leader is another poor choice. The basic premise is pretty good, but the whole “three weeks earlier,, 8 days earlier, ten years earlier” crap is too much….no one cares.
Aside from the fact that I have little faith in a traditional network to deliver consistant drama I think this thing is over hyped or maybe that’s all it has, hot air. I know that there are a lot of fans of “Heros” but that mostly hype as well and was never about the characters. Ronald Moore once said “It’s about the characters stupid” but apparently for NBC “It’s all about the Benjamins”
We are still watching. Last night’s episode was a bit slow but I still want to know what’s going on with these aliens and why this other group wants Walker so bad. They don’t want him dead based on last night so they need something from him.