Mixed Bag
Overall I'm enjoying this show enough to keep watching it, but part of it might be that I so badly want X-Files to still be on that I'll watch anything that's even remotely in the same vicinity.
I like the premise a lot, and I like the cast. As an "X-Phile" I'm obviously interested in the subject matter. The idea of a show based on the real-life Project Blue Book investigations is intriguing. The historical setting is a nice change of pace.
The problem is that tonally and conceptually, the show is inconsistent. Characters often seem to have multiple personality disorder.
During the course of a typical episode, the two main characters (Aidan Gillen and Michael Malarkey), as well as their immediate superior (Neal McDonough) will vacillate many times between (a) seeming to believe that people are having UFO and alien (and occasionally other Fortean) encounters, (b) seeming to think that the idea of UFO and alien encounters is pure bunk, and (c) being more agnostic about it but seeming to think that their job is (i) ultimately to provide b.s. cover stories for the government, or (ii) ultimately to be subversive and suggest that the government is covering up something.
A lot of screen time that could be spent on investigations is spent on inter-character drama where our stars take turns being on opposing sides of (a), (b), (c)(i) and (c)(ii) above. It becomes confusing. You don't know who is on what side. It's usually not clear what anyone's goal is exactly. And the bosses seem to continually make decisions--including many times that Project Blue Book was going to be closed or at least our investigators fired--that they renege on within 20 minutes.
The pacing and overall aesthetic--even the style of dialogue delivery, reminds me a lot of the video game L.A. Noire, which wasn't exactly a blockbuster, but it had its fans.
With less vacillation, better character focus, more attention on weird phenomena and investigations, and a bit more action this could be an excellent show.
I like the premise a lot, and I like the cast. As an "X-Phile" I'm obviously interested in the subject matter. The idea of a show based on the real-life Project Blue Book investigations is intriguing. The historical setting is a nice change of pace.
The problem is that tonally and conceptually, the show is inconsistent. Characters often seem to have multiple personality disorder.
During the course of a typical episode, the two main characters (Aidan Gillen and Michael Malarkey), as well as their immediate superior (Neal McDonough) will vacillate many times between (a) seeming to believe that people are having UFO and alien (and occasionally other Fortean) encounters, (b) seeming to think that the idea of UFO and alien encounters is pure bunk, and (c) being more agnostic about it but seeming to think that their job is (i) ultimately to provide b.s. cover stories for the government, or (ii) ultimately to be subversive and suggest that the government is covering up something.
A lot of screen time that could be spent on investigations is spent on inter-character drama where our stars take turns being on opposing sides of (a), (b), (c)(i) and (c)(ii) above. It becomes confusing. You don't know who is on what side. It's usually not clear what anyone's goal is exactly. And the bosses seem to continually make decisions--including many times that Project Blue Book was going to be closed or at least our investigators fired--that they renege on within 20 minutes.
The pacing and overall aesthetic--even the style of dialogue delivery, reminds me a lot of the video game L.A. Noire, which wasn't exactly a blockbuster, but it had its fans.
With less vacillation, better character focus, more attention on weird phenomena and investigations, and a bit more action this could be an excellent show.
- JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies
- Feb 4, 2020