Roswell, New Mexico - Pilot (1x01) Review

DISCLAIMER: The review you are about to peruse may be chalk full of SPOILERS. So, this is your friendly neighbourhood spoiler alert to prepare you for that potential. You've been warned. Enjoy! 😊

It's been a hot minute since I wrote one of these reviews (what with school and everything) that I decided to ease myself in with the series premiere of Roswell, New Mexico (2019-). As a special disclaimer, I will say that the original series - inspired by the book series "Roswell High" - Roswell (RIP), which ran from 1999 to 2002 on the CW's predecessor (aka the WB) holds a place in my heart. It is, in my humble opinion, the golden standard from which this new series has to live up to. Now, I realize both series' are adaptations of the aforementioned book series; nevertheless, I maintain fond memories of Roswell of which this series pales in comparison to.

I can't say I held high hopes for Roswell, New Mexico (RNM) upon learning about yet another potential reboot of a childhood favourite series of mine. I don't subscribe to the train of thought that believes this is a way to get a new generation into a series that a previous generation has loved. It's B.S. The earlier rendition is still out there and - with the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and the litany of other online sources available for television viewing - readily accessible, in some form or another. So, I did not have high hopes for this series to begin with.

That being said, I was semi-excited to see how the showrunner and writers were going to take this series when I realized it was premiering tonight. I expected a solid nod to its predecessor while still treading new ground, RNM being set roughly ten years after the previous series ended - aging up its main characters to adults. And although this does provide new breeding ground - plus an additional political element regarding il/legal immigrants - sadly, RNM did not meet (or beat) my expectations.

Let's begin with the cast. Jeanine Mason is lovely as Liz, who is returning home to Roswell to honour a sister that has been dead ten years now. My issues with this series is through no fault of her's, and I hope this show improves if only for her sake because I really feel this is a character she could get attached to. Nathan Parsons, our male lead, plays Max, an alien and police deputy who may have had some part in Rosa's (Liz's sister) death - though a secret here is only hinted at the end of the episode. Parsons here acts better with his eyes than he does the rest of him; there is no gravitas here, and I really can't help but compare him to Jason Behr because Behr played Max much better. Time will only tell if Parsons improves.

With regards to the rest of the cast, Michael Vlamis as Michael holds his weight as the cocky, macho alien. He's not Brendan Fehr, and I'm a little disappointed nothing is going to go on with him and Maria, but I recognize that really is just me holding onto Roswell more than anything. Michael Trevino isn't awful as Kyle Valenti - I can't quite tell yet if he's nuanced enough for me to see him outside of The Vampire Diaries, but I can give him the benefit of the doubt. Same can be said about Tyler Blackburn as Alex; he's not Colin Hanks, but I didn't see enough of him to gather much of an opinion. Maria (portrayed by Heather Hemmens) was more of a blip than anything, so I'll move on to my biggest cast issue.

I never thought I would see the day where I would miss Katherine Heigl as Isabel. This isn't any big thing about thinking she's got an ego or whatever, it's more that I really didn't like Isabel much in the original series, especially in season three when she had far too much storyline that it pulled from Max and Liz. RNM has me missing Heigl's Isabel. That's just because Lily Cowles is just not good as Isobel. Now, I've never knowingly seen her in anything else, so I can't speak to her acting talents elsewhere, but in this pilot episode she was not good. Parsons wasn't great, but he had his moments; Cowles simply does not read as believable in her part. All I can say with regards to this is complete miscasting opportunity right here.

Moving on to the episode as a whole. I found there to be a very large overuse of close-ups. When I'm sitting in front of my TV - which is big enough - and I'm wishing I could back up to get away from the largeness of the faces on the screen, it's time to shoot some medium shots. Maybe I just came fresh out of seeing Aquaman, with its beautiful tracking shots and solid use of the camera, that I just wasn't ready for amateur cinematography, but that's how these excessive close-ups felt. Plus, the angles were rarely well-utilized. This is network television, I expect something a little more professional appearing.

Aside from that what bothered me was the overall story and dialogue. The dialogue felt incredibly disjointed, as if it would come out of nowhere - or, at least, it did not feel organic. The progression of what characters were saying did not come across as altogether realistic. Yes, I know, this is not a real situation, this is television, but the quality of the dialogue can still feel realistic. I'm not asking for some French New Wave here, just organic dialogue that has a natural-seeming progression.

Which leads me to my concluding point having to do with the overall storyline. This, really, is more of an extension of the inorganic dialogue the pilot episode appeared to be plagued with in that the storylines seemed accelerated. By this, I mean something like the jump from Liz discovering what Max is to just being completely okay with it. Or everyone in the town hating Liz and her family, but not getting all uppity when she dances it out with Maria at the end. And Kyle going from being a surgeon to informing the military - and them just letting him into their top secret facility. These things only make sense when there's a progression; they can't just be thrown in and resolved without issue, life doesn't work that way - and I don't want Surrealism either.

Going into this episode, I was cautiously optimistic about its potential. Having now completed its premiere episode, I'm bleakly hoping it improves, but not holding my breath. I'll give it two more episodes to catch me, to see if it irons out its missteps - something I did not give to the likes of the Charmed reboot (*cough*atrocity*cough*) - but I expect this one to not meet my standards. At that point, I really will just move back to my Roswell DVDs.

Anyways, I give this episode a 5 out of 10, and hope there are Roswell newbies out there that get a bigger kick out of this than I did - even with the Crashdown familiarity.

No soundbites from this episode stood out to me. This is Miranda signing off.

Wayward Pines 1.01 Review: There's No Place Like Here

With the official premiere of the ten-episode event series Wayward Pines this week, in an episode entitled ‘Where Paradise Is Home’, a whole onslaught of questions has been introduced to the television audience that had the pleasure of watching it. This is a series that has started off introducing a lead character we can’t quite trust (in the past Matt Dillon’s Ethan had hallucinations due to his guilt towards some kind of Easter bombing), thrown him straight into the belly of the beast (he’s somehow popped up in this town with no memory of getting there), and turned us on our head by managing to twist time (Juliette Lewis’s Beverly has been there one year and she arrived in 1999, while Carla Gugino’s Kate has been there twelve years but only arrived around five weeks ago in real time). So many pieces thrown at us without being able to see the whole picture; much like Ethan, we’re following along with mostly clues from his point of view, with only a couple from outside with his family and the lead secret service agent Adam.

From the get go, I can already tell this series is not for everyone. This is a show that requires patience because we’re not getting the entire image of what’s going on. Similar to the opening shot, we’re only viewing the close-up of what’s occurring, when we really need to be able to pull back and view everything in a big picture kind of way. Given what has been provided to us already, this series appears to be something of a slow burner. Much like many a thrillers in the film format, this show appears to be one that will be slowly pieced together, we’ll be given the whole picture, and then we’ll have to deal with the repercussions of that big picture. I mean, why are these specific people there? How are they all okay with being held there against their will? How many of them are being held against there will. What is keeping these people there, and why? What did Adam do; did he give them Ethan? Is this a Truman Show situation, just with some kind of time warp? How has Beverly only been there one year, when in real time it’s been fifteen years, while Kate has been there twelve years in five weeks real time? Why can’t they leave? See, already so many questions – and I’m sure numerous audience members have more, with working theories far beyond my own grasp – with so many answers hopefully to be received.

Regarding the more behind the scenes kind of aspect to the show, with a few nitpicks about the technical parts; I’d like to start off by commending the casting of the series. This show has got names like the aforementioned Matt Dillon, Juliette Lewis (who I am loving already), and Carla Gugino, and then it also boasts the likes of Melissa Leo (as crazy nurse Pam), Terence Howard (as the sheriff), Shannyn Sossamon (as Ethan’s wife Theresa), and Reed Diamond (as Kate’s husband Harold). Such a phenomenal boat of talent, I expect this series will fly when it comes to the acting aspect. The cinematography has some kinks, but so far what’s been used is certainly working for it, and is in no way a hindrance such as the third season of American Horror Story’s technique was. The colouring and lighting left something to be desired, but I suspect that came more from a creative standpoint of making this town seem cold and alien to our unreliable hero. One thing I had the most issue with was the sound; it was so very raw, it almost made the episode seem a bit unfinished. Perhaps they’re going for an unnerving quality to the series, but I got more low-budget horror film quality from it. Even so, there was an intriguing quality to the series.

Overall, I enjoyed this series premiere. I don’t know how willing I’d be to stick with it beyond one season, but if they stick to the ten-episode event they’ve showcased for this series, I’ll certainly be a happy camper. Like I said, this is a series meant for someone willing to test their patience, and speaking as someone with a very low threshold, I wouldn’t be happy to have that patience stretched into obscurity. I can handle the slow build and burn of ten episodes, but I expect to get pieced results throughout those ten episodes, even if that means new questions arise. So far, the writing, the way this whole series is constructed, is working for it, but I strongly urge all those involved not to tempt the audience by giving too little too soon, or too much too soon, because I already watch a fair amount of series, and have several on my docket to catch up on, so I’d have no qualms dumping this one if it doesn’t continue to hold my interest. That’s just one woman’s advice.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Outlander 1.01 Series Premiere Review - A Long Journey in Time

The new series Outlander premiered Saturday night, in a basically self-titled series debut entitled ‘Sassenach’ – which one character explains as meaning Englishman, or at its worst outlander. The show opens up just after the end of World War II and our heroine Mrs. Claire Randall learning she is to reunite with her husband – to which she’s only seen a total of ten days in the last five years. The series opens really well, with a lovely voice over from our lead character kind of tying together choices with the present and the past, with a vase being a symbol of one choice that isn’t made.

Perhaps it was going into this series with an open mind and being comfortable with more intellectual material than a lot of television series demonstrate these days, but I thought this show was extremely enjoyable. If you’re going in expecting big scenes of action and destruction than this is not the show for you, there’s more of a finesse and detail to this series that takes it about half the first episode to get to the really peculiar circumstances Claire finds herself in.

This episode was very beautifully done in that matter; it doesn’t leave us with the shocker of Claire being in another time in the last five minutes which would strive to bring us back next week – which I was very thankful for – but it also doesn’t give us all the information involved that would drive our curiousity out the window – and us along with it. We know she’s ended up two hundred years in the past, but we don’t know why, how, or if she’ll be stuck there for good. There’s a good chance she’ll spend a great deal of time there, given her palm reading earlier in the episode depicts two marriages – please let it be that beautifully chiseled soldier whose shoulder she pops back in its socket – without a broken long.

Speaking of that beautiful man with the jaw of a Greek god, I’d like to take a look at the characters we’ve been introduced to us thus far. Obviously, there’s Claire, our heroine, whose smart, committed to her husband, and isn’t the believing type. The actress does a fine job of carrying this series, depicting a natural curiousity and a deep fondness for her husband. She’s very likeable, and despite the feeling I get that she is more than her husband, they seem very much in love. Mr. Frank Randall, however, is a little tedious, and a bit of a bore, but I can still evidently see the love he shares with his wife. These two fit well together, but there’s almost something missing that makes this time travelling adventure quite perfect. Mr. Chiseled Jaw, aka Jamie Fraser (although I don’t believe his name was actually mentioned in the pilot), on the other hand, instills a kind of excitement that makes me wishful that this is the other husband Claire will have. The chemistry is there between them, and that they keep being thrown together throughout the latter half of the first episode is a good sign, but it could always be a red herring. I am excited to learn more about his character, though.

In a technical aspect, this series was very well written, well acted, and the cinematography was neither disorienting or too in your face. The lighting didn’t have me squinting to see what was going on, like so many series do, particularly when natural lighting is all that is involved, and the transitioning – or fluidity – of the episode worked quite well. Also, I really enjoyed the costumes, particularly Claire’s outfits. They made me want to find something of the sort and for society to kind of go back to a 1940’s style of dress – rather than the eye roll inducing crop tops and shorts/dresses/skirts that leave nothing to the imagination. Now I’m no historian, so I can’t speak to the validity of any of the costume pieces, but I thought that they were quite well done, as well as the rest of the set dressing.

While I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this series and desire to watch it again next Saturday, I am quite glad I was given this review to write, for it gave me the chance to give this show a shot. Everything about this series really worked for me, and while it may eventually grow tiresome, I am definitely excited to give the rest of this season a chance. It was very beautifully done, and somehow gave me a Legend of the Seeker vibe to it. And it also makes me want to go out and buy the books the series is based on right away. So, if you’ve come to this review to see whether or not you should give Outlander a chance, let me just say that if you have an open mind about, and don’t expect something constantly in your face, this would definitely be a welcome addition to your TV schedule. That’s just from one TV addict to another.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” – Claire says. “I’m not at all sure that I haven’t.” – Frank replies.

Almost Human 1.01 Review: What Makes Us Human

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s series premiere of Almost Human, this is where I suggest that you do that before proceeding ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

So, this week’s pilot episode of Almost Human set the scene for a not-too-distant future (it is only the year 2048) where technology has advanced to the point where crime has skyrocketed 400%. This means there are not enough cops to dissuade criminals, and thus each cop must be paired with a synthetic partner – basically a robot.

We meet up with our damaged hero of the piece, John Kennex, played by the wonderful Karl Urban. After seventeen months in a coma caused by the evil crime unit known as Syndicate that wiped out the rest of his command, he has spent the last seven months rehabilitating. But now it’s time for this detective to get back to work, and that’s where this series begins.

While I have never seen Blade Runner and thus cannot make the connections with that film, this series does appear to have equal parts I, Robot as well as the recent remake of Total Recall. The special effects were masterful, which is what I related to the latter of the two films, and the MX’s were brilliantly designed, and also had an air of the former film. That being said, there wasn’t much I saw in this pilot that could be deemed original, but it was fun to watch nonetheless.

Although I’m a big fan of Karl Urban from both The Chronicles of Riddick film, as well as the two latest Star Trek films, it was not he who shined in this series. It was Michael Ealy’s turn as the emotional synthetic known as Dorian, based on the model name DRN. His ability to play a robot with emotions, but still jilted in his acting was phenomenal, and will likely be one of the bigger reasons I come back next episode. The man did amazing, I’d almost believe he actually was a robot, and that is the mark of a truly talented actor. It’s good to know that this guy has the chops to bring to one-half of a crime fighting team.

That leads me to another thing. One of my favourite things about this episode, aside from the character Dorian and my natural-born curiousity when it comes to the Syndicate, was the relationship that has just barely had its surface scratched, in way of the cop-synthetic team of Kennex and Dorian. The way Kennex had a strong adversity to all things synthetic, and then he is eventually (that is, after throwing his MX out of his car into highway traffic) paired with one that has emotions and is as close to human as possible, especially in the way that he makes his own choices and his intuition leads him to make those decisions. These two are perfectly paired for one another, and I look forward to watching their relationship evolve. I’m sure, while they did seem to come to some sort of understanding in the end, that there will be difficulties and obstacles to overcome, and that is a rather exciting endeavor for myself as an audience member.

All in all, this wasn’t a disappointing premiere. There wasn’t much in the way of originality like I said, but the cast that has been brought together seems promising. I do look forward to learning more about John’s ex-girlfriend, as well as seeing the development of Minka Kelly’s character. There is no shortage of cop dramas on television, but this does have a slightly different spin on that, at the very least. I’m not sure if I will stick around for the entire season, but this episode does have my curiousity peeked. Also, Segway!

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Well, that last part is true.” – Kennex agrees with his psychologist defining him as hating his synthetic body parts.

“Amy, Audrey, Aquamarine…” – Dorian lists off possible A names.

Okay, folks, that’s all for tonight. Check back in tomorrow for my reviews of How I Met Your Mother, Sleepy Hollow, and Almost Human, which moves into its Monday night timeslot.

Dracula 1.01 Review: The Seeking of Vengeance

All those that have yet to watch last night’s series premiere of Dracula should go and do so now or exit this screen. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

As someone that has read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and found it tediously boring, this was not a terrible revival of the tale. This new retelling of the old story has been given a fresh take to it, but still sticking to Victorian era I recall it being set in. That being said, this was not the best pilot to a series I’ve ever seen. If I were someone that only gave a series one chance, I would be unlikely to revisit this show again. But I am not, so I will give this a few more episodes to catch my interest.

One thing that caught my attention was how much I did not like Jonathan Rhy Meyer’s American accent. It wasn’t badly done or anything, but it was just so boisterously average, when his beautifully natural Irish accent is so much nicer that I don’t know why anyone would want to cover it up. But I do understand the need to have him play American; I just don’t feel drawn to his voice the way I am by his natural accent.

While I do feel that with this whole vengeance warpath Alexander Grayson is on does provide for interesting mythology and a possibly long series, there wasn’t much more to this bland sort of episode. For around three-quarters of the time spent watching this episode, I was rather bored. Yes, he’s a vampire, he’s the vampire, and vampires are very hot for the time being (although not as much as five years ago), there wasn’t anything new to this take on vampires. I’ve seen this before, millions of people have seen this before, this is not refreshing or original – especially since this book has had many renditions. But there’s not much to this character that catches my interest just yet, or to this series. Yes, he’s out for vengeance, that’s one intriguing notion, but there’s no pizzazz to this story. I don’t need flashy, but I do need something to draw me in and excite me.

I’m not sure if I was the only one, but I found it a little difficult to follow the conversations at times throughout the episode. It was almost as if this felt like the second or third episode in a series, where a lot of things have already been set up and I’m jumping in in the middle of the conversation. That’s how it made me feel, like it wasn’t explained quite well enough. Especially during the conversation between Jonathan Harker and Grayson, and the conversation between the two board members in the carriage before Grayson and Kruger fight. Part of it, I think, had to do with a lack of differentiating tone. There were very little inflections, or ups and downs, to the way people were speaking. Not quite monotone, but nothing to really demonstrate how most were feeling as they spoke. But perhaps that’s just polite English conversation. If it is, I much prefer my North American upbringing in that sense.

Van Helsing’s character I was a little unimpressed with. Grayson is played by the wonderful aforementioned Meyers, Mina, Jonathan, and Lucy are all played by attractive in their own right actors, but Van Helsing is played by a man I wouldn’t look twice at walking down the street. He just looks like an average Joe, nothing special. Perhaps that is the objective of the creators, to not have him be so encompassing that he’s easy to notice, but I’d think they’d want to be able to at least differentiate the actors in each scene. There’s nothing to him. Plus, correct me if I’m wrong, I can’t remember him working with Dracula in the book. I could be wrong, it’s been four years since I read the unremarkable text, but the two of them being in cahoots just seems wrong to me. Sure they have a common enemy, but I don’t think it’s enough – he’s Van Helsing.

One other thing I had issue with was the random addition of the opening title credit. There was no music to it, it was just silent, and it just felt thrown in to splice a scene from fitting together perfectly. I had a ‘What?’ moment when it came up on screen.

Two things I did enjoy were the wonderfully done special effects, and the choreographed dance in Grayson’s ballroom. The former may well have been great simply because of the smartly skewed lighting illuminating Grayson as he reanimated into the beautiful Meyers, but that would still be something well worked on for using those tricks to enhance the effect. The latter I just thought should belong at a gorgeous masquerade ball, or that One Republic music video. I always find it so astonishing when people dance in unison; it can be quite mesmerizing. Also, the way they pilfered in the gossip about the man that had invited all of them there was perfectly fitted.

Although I don’t feel like we were really given enough of the depths to some of these characters, I do feel the need to give this series another chance. As a fan of the gothic, I will try to power through, but I do hope that the blandness to this episode was just to set up the series going forward. This certainly wasn’t the worst premiere episode I’ve ever seen, but it was skillfully the best either. The acting was mostly good, and the writing so-so, better than a fair amount of television these days, so I’ll give it another shot.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Best Line:

“Give me one good reason I should not peel you like a grape.” – Grayson shouts at Van Helsing.

Alright, so I hope by this publication you realize I won’t be posting a Best Performances of the Week. I haven’t been feeling it for the last few weeks, I just don’t think many performances have warranted it, so we’ll see how this next week goes. If I don’t find anything greatly done in Haven, I may just move that the BPW to Saturday’s instead of their usual Thursday’s being that I have no programs to watch on Saturday. Anyways, I’m off to go watch Haven, but don’t expect a review of that tonight, I can already feel the exhaustion seeping into my bones.

The Crazy Ones 1.01 Review: Family is at the Heart of it all

Anyone that has yet to watch the series premiere of The Crazy Ones, and want to do so without being spoiled, now would be the time to exit this review. THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

I have to begin this review by saying that I liked this pilot episode. It infused heartwarming family values into the fast-paced city life of a busy ad agency in New York. While it didn’t have a strong opening, it did help represent the struggle these people go through behind the camera.

The way this show intermingled shots of the open office space, and cutting in brief glimpses of the city itself was very well done. I liked the fast-paced element to seeing the New York City skyline, and interspersing it with evocative music to help boost up the setting this series takes place in. While I’m not one that tends to like office set series’, the open outline this show appears to have, gives it a less tightly wound feel to it than other shows with cubicle like backdrops. As long as they keep diverse scenes, and don’t stick strictly to filming in the ad agency floor, it will be easy enough to handle.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Robin Williams must be commended for their obvious familial chemistry. They really feel like a father and daughter team that have been in each other’s lives a long time. This very much helps to make this place they work in feel like a family run business, with crazy antics popping up all the time.

The other supporting characters also help to round out this cast. These people all feel like they’ve worked together, and known each other for many years. They mesh well into the unit and craziness of this workplace, and almost create another kind of family feel. Sure, with family comes chaos, but that only helps to produce large quantities of comedy that we’re sure to feel throughout this series.

After watching this pilot, I understand the reasoning behind it’s title. The reason Sydney got into advertising, aside from her dad running this business, was based on the ad Apple ran in the nineties that merely sold an idea. It was a very appropriate title plug-in that helped to lift this pilot off the ground just a bit. Not only does the title symbolize how crazy these people’s lives are likely to be, it was a very real ad commercial.

No, this show didn’t evoke sidesplitting humour, but it did make me laugh, and I do plan to come back again and watch more episodes. This series is reminiscent of how last years Go On made me feel. I know there aren’t actual similarities between that grief sitcom, and this family ad sitcom, but it was more about how each makes this weird kind of unit that make you want to come back and watch. For that reason, though, this series may not get a second season.

My rating: 3 out of 5.

Best Lines:

“You just got knocked out by a girl.” – Simon yelling at his robot after his daughter punched it (possibly a little nod to her previous run as a slayer).

“You remember that baby hippo in the zoo? Maybe it was a dream… Either way it was in my underwear.” – Simon, giving his daughter the run around.

“What major-minor details?” – Sydney, worried about what her father has planned for the McDonald’s ad.

“I’m nuts, who knew?” – Sydney, after going after Kelly Clarkson when her father’s pivoting fails.

Okay, I’m off to watch the two-hour premier of Grey’s Anatomy, and review that after. Then it’s Best Performances time!