Author of "Because I Say So: The Dangerous Appeal of Moral Authority" (www.nikkistern.com) and "Hope in Small Doses" to be released June 1, 2010 by Humanist Press.
I've been waiting for The Event with a combination of anticipation and trepidation. On the plus side: a mysterious premise, tireless (endless?) promotion, 24’s executive producers and a mostly terrific cast (Blair Underwood as a Cuban-American President! Laura Innes from ER! There's that fellow with the unpronounceable name—Zelijko Ivanek—who was on Damages! Hey, isn't that John Ritter’s son, Jason?)images: NBC
On the minus side:NBC’s recent experiment with conspiracy thrillers via its underwhelming summer filler Persons Unknown. Then there’s that tag line, no doubt positioned to be a classic, but instead ripe for parody:“We may have a problem; he’s going to tell them about…the event”.
YouTube image: NBC
What IS the event? We know going in what it's not: it's not the disappearance, nor the assassination attempt, nor the CIA cover-up, although these events are all introduced in the first episode, along with many others.
The show messes with its time line, as Lost did after a few seasons, but moves much faster, jumping back twenty-three minutes, back eight days, forward to the present, back thirteen months--all the while skipping between a plane that's apparently been hijacked, the President's Florida retreat, a cruise ship where two young lovers are enjoying a vacation that will soon be interrupted, a Gitmo-type prison deep inside Alaska where the CIA is apparently holding 97 "dangerous" people (who or what they are is not made clear), with the requisite brief stop in the Oval Office.
All this action went by very quickly, even frenetically, yet I wasn't nearly as riveted as I wanted to be. One reason may be that so many of the scenes, featuring the remote prison, the runaway plane, the morally compromised high-ranking White House staffer, the several disappearances (I'll say no more) all feel like plot devices we've seen before. The other problem I have is with Jason Ritter; the guy seems too lightweight to carry a scene and as a primary player, he's going to be in a lot of them.
The show may come together as further plot is unspooled. I'd like to see more of Laura Innes and the wonderful Blair Underwood. And I'm a little curious about the Event. I hope it's not an alien invasion (ABC's V), or a hole in the wall between parallel universes, (Fox's quirky showFringe) or a giant experiment gone wrong (the recently canceled Flash Forward). In any event, The Truth is out there. The question is whether, by the time it's revealed, we'll care.
PS Did you watch Flash Forward? Although it got a bit whiny--especially re the marriage of the two main players--I loved the premise. I'm sorry it was canceled.
There were scenes in the show like on the boat, when the Ritter character gets put into The Spinner, and I was like, OKAY, NOW WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE, SHOCK THE HELL OUT OF ME, that is what the show SHOULD have been, instead we got something like Lost mated with 24, and maybe the original mini-series V plus a bunch of other DISAPPEARED UNDER STRANGE REASON, NOBODY KNOWS YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND, WIFE, COUSIN, ETC. + The Twilight Zone.
:D
The whole jumping back and forth in the time line just made it muddy for me, I was like, where are we in reference to the time frame, cause they would jump 8 days, go back to the plane, go back to the President, etc.
And the real bad part is, I figured it would be this way by the promos, anytime the networks throw all the promos like that, bumps in every show, etc. etc. I just have a feeling it's not going to be good.
I may give it another watch but I doubt I'll turn into a fan. I wasn't a fan of Lost either, but that wasn't by choice, I worked when it was on.
I did like the show after The Event, Chase. I'll watch it again. There was a storyline and action and it made me go, OH NO.....
glad you wrote this, nikki, so i don't have to watch. until you tell me it's worth it, which i sort of doubt will happen. looks like i'll have to find another way to get my pulse to race. ;
Brings back a silly spy movie in which Ritter's dad plays a bumbling suburban doofus shanghaied into working with a CIA agent played by John Belushi's brother. I'd hafta agree with you the kid is miscast, unless he shows enuf chops to build his own creds.
I don't know precisely why but I have not been made remotely interested by the adverts nor by the media hype abt this show. And now you've confirmed my sense that I was right not to have become too keen on it. Thanks! r.
Hi Nikki. Stopped by here to buy some shoes and wound up reading your review. Saw the show; have to agree. But I did set my DVR to record each episode. The problem I have with any show like this, you don't dare miss more than one episode, and/or ... in the case of jumping time lines ... take your eye off the screen. I hope the plot does NOT get too complicated or that ... should this thing survive more than one season ... we are forever left in the dark about the *event.* At least with Jack Bower, you had a new Enemy each season. I rate your review {{{R}}} plus 5 ... the show, an R minus 5 with a ?-mark.
Oh, and can I get a pair of Air Jordan (River) in a size 12?
I must be on the short end of the attention span, but I simply could not get into this thing last night. It's just another seemingly never-ending series using so damned many switchbacks you feel you're climbing Machu Picchu into the clouds with no point of reference.
Been there. Done that, for all of three weeks of "Lost," the plot of which was completely "lost" on me.
Admittedly, I'm not a big tube watcher to begin with, so "The Event" will surely not notice that I will not waste another 30 minutes or hour (whatever it's slated to run) watching some show that has nothing going for it but switchback confusion intended to hide it's lack of point/purpose. The fascinating thing is, my wife is a tube watcher extraordinaire and even she gave up on Lost as I'm sure she will with this.
This use of switchbacks (or whatever the boob tube industry calls that extremely annoying practice of incessantly changing directions) is as unentertaining and infuriating as the commercials it suppors during every damned turn.
Hell, at least Machu Piccu has a reason for the switchbacks.
The show could have been a lot better if they actually had better actors. Those were some of the worst acting performances I've seen in ages. It was the first time in a long time I've seen a show where I could completely tell the actors were trying to act, and often were overacting as a result. What was shocking about this is that in the background were some of the best actors around (like Tony Todd who played some military officer who I don't even think had more than a few lines the entire night).
All I kept thinking was that the producers/director were trying WAY too hard to be innovative but had nothing innovative to be innovative about.
omg, "4400"--how could I forget that series? So much promise and then it got absolutely bogged down in over-exposition. I hate it when the mystery is gone!
I was lukewarm and actually started to miss Flashforward. I loved Jason Ritter in Joan of Arcadia, but was disappointed in his performance in the first episode.
Wow. I'm so with you, Nikki. I watched this last night, and I thought it felt like a 42-minute trailer. I guess I'll watch again, but something had better start to cohere.
I just left lawer Con Chapman's Swampy BOG. Con C. should change his name to `outhouses. He sure has big outhouse in the United States. He (Con C.) needs to but spectacles like yours. I confess? I checked m pulse and came to read you better. My glasses are similar (I use reading glasses) ? I wanted to see if someone used our spectacles. ` NJ folk steal red, green, and moth holy t-shirts Hold onto your shirts. It's getting chilly shivers. NS rob folk of sweaters, chowder soup. Chatter. huh? Some day I wish to buy your book. Ya need shirt? I have a bunch of moth eaten flannels you can buy? Barter? Flannel? Your book? Ya read it yet? Is it any Good? barter for soup? shad soup chatter? I getting old timers? I forgot why I'm here? You like seafood soups? You love Con C. outhouse? silly. tease. forgive. love neighbors. Truth is outhouse. Truth is out there.
premise, tireless (endless?) promotion, 24’s executive producers and a mostly terrific cast (Blair Underwood as a Cuban-American President! Laura Innes from ER! There's that fellow with the 
unpronounceable 
name—Zelijko Ivanek—who was on Damages! Hey, isn't that John Ritter’s son, Jason?) images: NBC
500words
Chauncey DeVega
littlewillie
Molly Tennyson
Karen Riley
RomanticPoetess
Salon.com
Comments
At least you might laugh.
rated
:D
The whole jumping back and forth in the time line just made it muddy for me, I was like, where are we in reference to the time frame, cause they would jump 8 days, go back to the plane, go back to the President, etc.
And the real bad part is, I figured it would be this way by the promos, anytime the networks throw all the promos like that, bumps in every show, etc. etc. I just have a feeling it's not going to be good.
I may give it another watch but I doubt I'll turn into a fan. I wasn't a fan of Lost either, but that wasn't by choice, I worked when it was on.
I did like the show after The Event, Chase. I'll watch it again. There was a storyline and action and it made me go, OH NO.....
Oh, and can I get a pair of Air Jordan (River) in a size 12?
@ Con: yes, the glasses allow me to watch and review TV shows for Open Salon.
Been there. Done that, for all of three weeks of "Lost," the plot of which was completely "lost" on me.
Admittedly, I'm not a big tube watcher to begin with, so "The Event" will surely not notice that I will not waste another 30 minutes or hour (whatever it's slated to run) watching some show that has nothing going for it but switchback confusion intended to hide it's lack of point/purpose. The fascinating thing is, my wife is a tube watcher extraordinaire and even she gave up on Lost as I'm sure she will with this.
This use of switchbacks (or whatever the boob tube industry calls that extremely annoying practice of incessantly changing directions) is as unentertaining and infuriating as the commercials it suppors during every damned turn.
Hell, at least Machu Piccu has a reason for the switchbacks.
All I kept thinking was that the producers/director were trying WAY too hard to be innovative but had nothing innovative to be innovative about.
Con C. should change his name to `outhouses.
He sure has big outhouse in the United States.
He (Con C.) needs to but spectacles like yours.
I confess?
I checked m pulse and came to read you better.
My glasses are similar (I use reading glasses) ?
I wanted to see if someone used our spectacles.
`
NJ folk steal red, green, and moth holy t-shirts
Hold onto your shirts. It's getting chilly shivers.
NS rob folk of sweaters, chowder soup. Chatter.
huh?
Some day I wish to buy your book. Ya need shirt?
I have a bunch of moth eaten flannels you can buy?
Barter?
Flannel?
Your book?
Ya read it yet?
Is it any Good?
barter for soup?
shad soup chatter?
I getting old timers?
I forgot why I'm here?
You like seafood soups?
You love Con C. outhouse?
silly.
tease.
forgive.
love neighbors.
Truth is outhouse.
Truth is out there.