Defying Gravity

"Defying Gravity doesn't" and other brilliant witticisms I've found in the press have compelled me to write this review.

I'm not sure what it is people expect from network drama. Are the physics poorly explained? Yeah. Is NASA really full of sexy astronauts that all happen to be dating each other? No.

But seriously people, is that what we want television to be? This may come as a shock, but ER, Grey's, House, etc. don't exactly approximate what it's like to be a doctor but a lot of people love those shows for what they are: entertainment.

There's a lot of excitement in this show. It actually reminded me of Armageddon. Romance, drama, secrets, and space. It's not the Soprano's, but there's definitely room for shows like this on my Tivo.

I've just finished watching the first 2 episodes, and I must say, I was intrigued.

It's set in a near future (2052), and a team of astronauts are suiting up for what is going to be the trip of a lifetime; A 6 year journey through our solar-system, visiting all the inner & outer planets, and gathering as much information about our galactic neighborhood & scientific data as they can whilst they're out there..at least, those are the official mission-objectives. We are introduced to an unknown factor, a person or entity (Beta), who/which is somehow manipulating the mission, and known about by the higher ups, but never mentioned. Only the mission commander has been fully briefed and instructed to brief the crew, only after they've arrived at Venus.

It has somewhat of a "Lost"-vibe, in that it's very character driven and mysterious. However, this can be a bad thing..I personally lost interest in Lost, because of exactly that fact; There were too many questions, and the answers only brought up more questions & were not to my satisfaction to begin with. I hope Defying Gravity will not be taking the same route, because it definitely has potential.

A lot of reviews here have really derided this show for being completely unrealistic, cheesy, and boring, and have basically labeled it "Grey's Anatomy in Space." I highly disagree. I address some of the concerns below:

1) Some reviews make the problem with the show one of being unrealistic. First off, IT'S A SCIENCE FICTION SHOW SET IN THE FUTURE. Who is really worrying about realism? And if you are, how can you worry about what's realistic when we have absolutely no way of knowing what is real IN THE FUTURE? Plus, it's simply TV...if you want realism, watch the discovery channel, or go visit Cape Canaveral in Florida, don't come looking for it on a show on ABC.

2) One previous review comments about the female Hispanic astronaut attempting to teach in space via video communication, and how she switched in and out of Spanish when talking. I kind of got offended at that review, as they said that she was simply making up random, nonsense words in Spanish when talking. I'm a native Spanish speaker, and all of what she was saying made complete sense. Second, why is the concept of multilingual teaching so hard to accept? The show is set 41 years in the future, and at the rate Hispanics are growing in this country, Spanish is fast becoming a critical secondary language in the US. Not to mention, various educational programs via the internet are doing the same thing, so it is far from nonsensical. It's simply a very bigoted view.

3) Before making assumptions about the show, or passing judgment on it, watch the episodes available from start to finish. Many concerns about plot holes are addressed in subtle ways that someone not taking any effort to pay attention to the show, and instead use it as mindless background noise, would definitely miss.

4) Yes, I understand the whole "why is there a music video in the middle of the show" concern. There are a couple of points where the show uses a musical "interlude" during emotional/emotion-evoking scenes. The question is, how else would you like them to show the love between a husband and wife, or the thrill of beginning space exploration? By talking about it? By cheesy dialog between the characters trying to say something of deep meaning, but not succeeding? Please. The show tried to appease individuals looking for that sort of thing by the whole "astronaut video diary" scenes. By the way, the scenes in question are about 6-7 minutes out of a 45 minute show. Get over it.

5) This isn't Star Trek. It isn't Star Wars. It isn't your typical science fiction set really far in the future, where anything and everything is possible. It's a show about what space exploration COULD BE like sometime in the next half century, but that doesn't mean that it's how things WILL be. People who have problems with this seem to think that space travel is either via Space Shuttle, or by the Starship Enterprise, and nothing in between. Keep your mind open.

It's a nice change of pace from medical drama shows, legal/police drama shows, "teen angst" shows, and family comedies. It's something a bit different. Plus, only two episodes have aired (both of which were pretty good when you simply sat back and enjoyed it for what it was worth, rather than trying to nit-pick apart the show for every little thing). There's plenty of the show ahead, so give it some time. Plot lines take time to develop and get better.

Obviously, not everyone likes every show. I know that there are definitely shows that I've despised through the years, and I'm sure everyone has their own shows that they feel that way about. All I'm saying is, watch the show, give it a chance, and allow it to be its own show, not something else that it's not, but that you or someone else would like it to be because you were comfortable with the previous show. Additionally, Ron Livingston is the man, so there's always that.

I really enjoyed the pilot and 2 episodes so far. I'm a Sci-Fi nut to start off with and my heads been in the stars since I was a kid, so when they start another space based TV show I'm all in.

Ron Livingston is a great actor and makes a fantastic lead in this futuristic space epic. His character is serious, yet relaxed, which I think makes him more likable. The other characters are slowly developing, but all seem to have their own side stories, which for most people will make the show.

Regarding the ship, they really put thought into the possible future techs that could be reality. The ship is definitely more realistic to what might be our first long term spaceship. Built sort of like the International Space Station, put together by component modules, it's long, cylindrical, and not light-speed. I'm sure we'll learn more about the ship as time goes on, but for now they've not really focused on it much. What we do know is that the ship has mysteries. There is a force that's guiding the ship, its crew and their mission to explore the solar system. Who or what this force is has left us guessing.

Overall, the show is off to a good start. It's got it's drama, suspense, and intrigue. Here's to hoping this one stays on the air for a long time!

Pray ABC keeps this one on board. It's already an interesting drama/sci-fi/mystery and I'm really wanting to know who (I really suspect it's a "what") Beta is: the one that makes major decisions for the human astronauts but has remained in shadow so far...The cast is excellent and well seasoned (I do not mean old!) -- this automatically lends a trusted measure of character to the series. I rarely watch anything on a regular basis - but I have remembered to view "Defying Gravity" every week... and if you want to know the overall 'climate' of my other IMDb comments check the other posts attached to my account - always a good idea around here (O; .