The Event

I was intrigued by the 4 minute extended trailer, and so I eagerly tuned in for the premiere. Unfortunately, it was very underwhelming. I didn't learn anything new from the 43 minute premiere that I hadn't already learnt from the 4 minute trailer. I actually found the premiere to be boring and unnecessarily drawn out.

Also, none of the characters really seemed all that interesting, except for maybe Mike and the lady from ER, but those aren't the main characters, so that's not a good sign.

I don't mind non-linear story telling, but, there didn't seem like all that much of a reason for the tactic here - it felt contrived. Also, this may seem like a minor point to some, but the way the "flashback" subtitles changed sizes really distracted me a lot. What's wrong with normal subtitles?

Anyways, I think I will give it one more episode to suck me in, but if the second episode is as underwhelming as the first, then I won't be tuning in.

I was too busy at the time of premier to get into the program, but I DVR'd all the episodes for a later date. A couple of weeks ago I watched the first 7 episodes all at once, and have stayed up to date since. I am absolutely addicted to this show now, and will be heartbroken for the 3-month hiatus, and if it is subsequently canceled altogether.

I am taken aback by all the haters and pseudo-intellectuals nit-picking this program to death. There is absolutely nothing so onerously out of joint with this show as to draw that level of ire. And some of us prefer a show that requires our attention instead of our minds drifting to the bills or what we're going to make for dinner tomorrow night. I turn my phone off (anyone old enough to remember turning the house phone ringer off for some mini-series everyone wanted to watch?). I swear, there is a generation that simply refuses to be satisfied with anything. If it is infused with reality, the creators lack imagination. If it is imaginative, it has reality boundaries because their "sophisticated" willful suspension of disbelief must be bought off first. It's a cliquish farce.

Make up your own mind.

So I wasn't impressed with the pilot, found one of the main characters (Sara Roemer)to be a hum-drum drain that we have to work too hard to find believable, still some strong actors to pull it thru like Ritter, Innes and Underwood so I decided to give it another chance. Holy boring-soap-opera Batman! Was that ever a waste of time. The second installment was a duplicate of the first. It simply repeated everything they showed us the first time only from a side view perspective of someone else. OK, we already got that. It was not news, it was wholly predictable and painfully boring. I thought maybe there must be some interesting tidbit of news before the show ended but was ultimately punished for my patience. Unbelievable that producers think so little of our intellectual capability, treating us like toddlers that need everything to be repeated repeatedly. All the flashbacks are just annoying because we live a linear existence and like our stories to not deviate from that natural time flow so drastically. Lost interest now.

This show has been one of the best Sci-Fi series to come out for years, I enjoyed Lost but occasionally got "Lost" with it, The Event is not hard to follow, something happened during each episode leaving a cliffhanger and you wanting for the next. I can understand why NBC has cancelled another season due to a plummet in viewing figures, but I cannot understand their thinking, the pilot and subsequent episodes faired really well with great viewing figures, they decide to allow the show to have a 3 month break, without warning the show restarts at a later time in the schedule and on a different night (In the UK it went from 10pm on a Friday to 11.55pm on a Monday), I would not have noticed this, only did due to the fact I had it on series record on satellite TV so was able to resume my viewing, many people I think will have been unaware of this or unable to do this, I just don't think the viewing figures dropped due to it being a bad show, I think bad decisions by NBC and lack of advertising. It was truly an entertaining show, especially the last 7 or 8 episodes of the series when it all kicked off, its like an emotional roller coaster at the beginning you can sympathise with the Aliens and dislike the humans especially the president and his decisions but all that changes, I don't want to go into it too much but I think its a series that anyone could enjoy given a chance. There are the odd annoyances, there are a few plot holes and a few minor irritations i.e. the character Sophia, her acting at time was a bit wooden and emotionless, but I suppose you get people like that in real life, I know some myself. Anyway give it a chance and I am sure you will end up thinking like I do, hope they back another series, don't want to be left in another forever limbo with the fantastic cliffhanger of the final show of the series !

The first time, I was amazed for 42 minutes or so, while watching the pilot. No more big brother - but a series that has: -a good cast -good directing -great production -intriguing plot (as it seems) -makes you think (yes, that thing that people do sometimes) -makes you wonder (the thing that makes life a bit more interesting)

Then, I was curious and went on IMDb. And was amazed yet again, for about 10 minutes, while reading the reviews. Out of 14, 13 "reviewers" gave it "2 stars"... People complain that they "couldn't follow up"... You know, sometimes it may worth your while, to actually PAY ATTENTION to what you're doing/watching.

If you liked "Flash Forward", and got disappointed when it was canceled (surely, due to the kind of feedback I just witnessed), you will definitely love this. If they manage to keep up with the anticipation left by the pilot, if they manage not to drain it like they did with "Lost", it has the potential of becoming one of the best series of late.

Cheers, and don't let the facts confuse you.