Watched the pilot and it was less than enticing. With a group of strangers waking up on a mysterious island, this feels like a retread of Lost.
Now, Lost certainly had flaws: padding, flashbacks which eventually became repetitive, writers constantly baiting the audience with mysteries which were seldom given satisfying closure (if any closure at all)... still, Lost was smartly crafted and addictive, with memorable characters, neat moments, the feeling of a compelling mythology... which turned out to be kind of a mess, but at least the illusion was effective for a while!
This pilot doesn't have anything special. Characters are mostly flat and interchangeable; their immediate conflict feels incredibly contrived. As much as I can appreciate lovely protagonist Natalie Martinez running around in a tight tank top, I'm afraid I really need something more than that, show. You know, stuff like characterization and non-terrible dialogues.
The writers are clearly going with a Lost-like "mystery box" (who are these people? who put them there? why are they amnesiac? etc.) but, where Lost had a giant monster and polar bears, this has... a shark attack.
Which, yeah, that could be a terrific moment (Jaws is one of my favorite movies of all time), but if you are opting for the J.J. Abrams / Damon Lindelof format of enthralling viewers with weird mysteries, an average shark attack as the big set-piece feels a little mundane and underwhelming. And still, the shark attack was the highlight of the pilot.
Not impressed so far.
5/10
Now, Lost certainly had flaws: padding, flashbacks which eventually became repetitive, writers constantly baiting the audience with mysteries which were seldom given satisfying closure (if any closure at all)... still, Lost was smartly crafted and addictive, with memorable characters, neat moments, the feeling of a compelling mythology... which turned out to be kind of a mess, but at least the illusion was effective for a while!
This pilot doesn't have anything special. Characters are mostly flat and interchangeable; their immediate conflict feels incredibly contrived. As much as I can appreciate lovely protagonist Natalie Martinez running around in a tight tank top, I'm afraid I really need something more than that, show. You know, stuff like characterization and non-terrible dialogues.
The writers are clearly going with a Lost-like "mystery box" (who are these people? who put them there? why are they amnesiac? etc.) but, where Lost had a giant monster and polar bears, this has... a shark attack.
Which, yeah, that could be a terrific moment (Jaws is one of my favorite movies of all time), but if you are opting for the J.J. Abrams / Damon Lindelof format of enthralling viewers with weird mysteries, an average shark attack as the big set-piece feels a little mundane and underwhelming. And still, the shark attack was the highlight of the pilot.
Not impressed so far.
5/10
