Beyond

In Fort Reed, Kansas, Holden Matthews wakes up from a 12 year coma after a motorcycle crash where he was chased by his best friend Kevin's older brother Jeff. He apparently returns with latent superpowers after crossing over from a different Realm. His younger brother Luke is now in college. There is the mysterious Willa and the dangerous Man in the Yellow Jacket who are interested in him. There is a vast conspiracy looking to harness his new powers. Charlie is another who woke up from a coma with special powers.

This Freeform sci-fi show struggles for two seasons and never really settles into a good flow. The young lead Burkely Duffield is a bit stiff with a deer in the headlights look. Oddly enough, that actually fits the character. I'm less impressed with Dilan Gwyn who plays Willa at various levels of irritation. Eden Brolin has the most fun playing the sarcastic Charlie and she has great chemistry with the lead. Sadly, she joins the show at episode five and they didn't figure out adding her character as a main character until the second season. This show really took too long to figure out the group chemistry. It's too bad because all the parts are there. The Man in the Yellow Jacket is a great villain. The premise is intriguing. In more assured hands, this show could have been good but this never truly found its footing despite getting a twenty episode run.

I found this show enjoyable and it pulled me in. It has some good actors and some very well done scenes (I was particularly impressed by Eden Brolin- -it seems the Brolins may be getting better with each generation.) However, you must suspend disbelief almost entirely, as the show's plot really doesn't stand up to any sort of analysis.

Like many of the other early reviews here, I binge watched this series over the New Years holiday.

I went into 'Beyond' thinking it was likely campy, breezy, sci-fi with an eye toward a YA demographic (similar to Freeform's 'Shadowhunters', a guilty pleasure if you're in the right mood).

However, this show takes itself more seriously-the violence in the early episodes is much more realistic. As is the bickering that goes on in the lead character's family. Additionally, there are more serious background themes present here concerning the exploitation of grief by religion and commerce, as well as the common experience of PTSD by former soldiers. Heady stuff, for this kind of show. That this show takes itself more seriously, however, is not really a good reason to watch it. The early episode violence is gratuitous, to the point that it doesn't even make sense by the end of the series; and the background issues remain firmly in the background.

The central conceit of the show is that after recovering from a 12-year coma, the lead character Holden is plagued by mysterious visions, supernatural experiences, recruitment attempts by bizarre cultists, as well as the attention of a beautiful and mysterious woman who wants to help protect him from all of these other things.

With each episode, more memories from Holden's time in his coma are revealed. Whether these memories are dreams, near-death experiences, or actual memories of time spent in purely spiritual world slowly becomes clearer over the course of the episodes. The way in which Holden's memories are revealed, and their relation to the cult and his mysterious guardian are what pulls you into the story. Along the way, there are also some really well done bits concerning Holden's romance with another coma victim, as well the appearance of random characters, such as a movie obsessed pharmacist, that make the unfolding of Holden's story rather more enjoyable than it probably ought to be.

By the end, frankly, none of it makes a damn bit of sense, making a scene from Holden's middle episodes romance all the more foretelling. In that scene, after catching a fish with his paramour, he lets it go, much to her amazement-the moral being that it is about the effort/journey, not the result/destination. As long as you keep that in mind, and don't bother trying to make sense of the series as a whole, 'Beyond' is an enjoyable ride.

I just finished watching season one and I have to say that I rather enjoyed this one. It's not perfect by any means but it was captivating and a great binge watch.

This series definitely had a Syfy channel feel to it and I mean that in a rather negative way. I used to be a Syfy channel fan when it first kicked off but they chose a more bubble gum Sci-Fi route for most of the new programs so haven't watched much lately. This Syfy channel feel along with some sloppy directing were among my top annoyances but it was pretty decent otherwise.

On the positive side, top of the list for me was the fresh and diverse Cast and the great job they did. Burley Duffield (Holden) was annoying at first as he ran around like a confused fool for the first three or four episodes but that played out well for later when he finally snapped out of being such a wuss and properly took the lead for the show.

Swedish actress Dilan Gwyn was probably my favorite of the bunch and she should have a very successful career ahead of her. Other fantastic performances came from Jeff Pierre, Eden Brolin, and a long-time favorite of mine from his Hal Hartley 'Trust' days, Martin Donovan. Oh, and special mention for Peter Kelamis who was an awesome villain.

The Sci-Fi itself was also not that bad. It certainly wasn't groundbreaking or mind-altering but was enough to keep me interested. I look forward to season two, provided there is one.

So after binge watching the first 10 episodes, I'm now in a position to put forward a review a little bit more comprehensive than what's been posted previously (by the way, it's cheap*, not cheep).

The first few episodes are a bit slow to get into as for the character having super powers, well it's a bit more than that. As far as being categorised as a mystery series, I'd say this hits the mark, particularly when you think about the back plots to newly introduced characters not being lain out on a table for you.

The actors aren't the best in the world but I've seen worse and to be honest, I'd give them a decent 7/10, with more talent and "CGI" playing a role the further you get into the series.

Without spoiling the plot to much (which does develop quite well I'd say), the main character is well formed and continues to show growth throughout each episode. A few side characters fall away which just supplemented the main story line more than anything but nevertheless still played an important role in the plot.

Overall, I'd suggest watching the first 3 episodes all the way through rather than fast forwarding and looking for the big action explosions because these simply aren't there till much later on however there is a good insight into whats to come in the second episode.

Like other reviewers, I was quite pleased to discover a new series to start the new year with. The description sounded enticing, "a young man wakes up from a coma after 12 years and discovers new abilities" so I decided to give it a go.

Tim Kring, the man behind Heroes, is one of the producers and for anyone who watched Heroes there will be similarities. A twenty- something develops strange powers and finds himself being hunted by a powerful organisation for unknown reasons. However, unlike Heroes, the characters mostly stay disappointingly one-dimensional and the story is predictable enough to be slightly boring.

The cast is competent and some of the ideas are interesting, but it feels like the show is aimed at a YA market, sort of like a Baby Heroes, and while there are some decent moments I never really got that "Wow" moment after the first couple of episodes.

It's a pity, because some of the characters have real potential and if they were willing to push it a bit and take more risks by aiming for a more mature market I think I would have liked the show a lot more.

As it is, I give it a 6/10 for good effort, but not good enough. Watch if there is nothing else on or if Heroes was too edgy for you.