I gave up on the series in the middle of episode 3. It's a shame because it's a great premise for a show - after all there are many others in this genre that were successful and short lived cult favs. It's a genre I really love and even do repeat viewing of many similar series. Sadly, this is one of the worst in memory. The majority of the problem is that the writing is hacky, chichéd, and predictable to a fault. Usually, if a show is not super original, it can still be super fun to watch though, because you like and enjoy the characters, the dialog, the settings. Even though this originally aired on ABC, the budget seems tiny. I think I did watch one or two episodes when it originally aired. I don't remember if it hated it then also or if it just got lost in the schedule so I couldn't keep watching. I do know it was pulled from the schedule completely after 4 episodes. For once, I agree with the executives. Another downfall is casting Ryan Merriman as the lead. He's extremely whiny and unlikeable, and it's not just due to the writing. Every line he says or close up of his pouty, spoiled face, is like nails on a blackboard. It's a shame because most of the rest of the cast is great. I've enjoyed watching them in many other shows and they've had careers with staying power. I've especially been a fan of Eric Balfour and Arnold Vosloo. There were even good guest stars. Take episode 3, which I gave up on, they had Liz Vassey who played Wendy from CSI, who I enjoyed watching for years. For the most part, the casting was great. I would have enjoyed watching the rest of the cast in a show of this type had it been good. But I just can't with Merriman. Putting him aside, there is not a single plot development that is inspired or interesting. How do you mess up a story of this type so badly? There were other similar small budget similar shows like Adventure Inc or Relic Hunter that I loved. There were even similar shows with teens such as Unnatural History that did a better version of this genre. But they had better writers and likely also better directors. The entire writing staff for Veritas needed to be replaced. Whoever was showrunner made a lot of poor decisions. What a shame.
Review of Veritas: The Quest
