Pilot 

After a plane from Hamburg returns with no survivors, FBI agent Olivia Dunham goes after the only person that might shed some light on the incident - a scientist that has been in a mental hospital for the last 17 years.

Director:

Alex Graves

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (created by), Alex Kurtzman (created by)

Stars:

Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Torv	...	Olivia Dunham
Joshua Jackson	...	Peter Bishop
Lance Reddick	...	Phillip Broyles
Kirk Acevedo	...	Charlie Francis
Blair Brown	...	Nina Sharp
Jasika Nicole	...	Astrid Farnsworth
Mark Valley	...	John Scott
John Noble	...	Dr. Walter Bishop
Jason Butler Harner	...	Richard Steig
Peter Outerbridge	...	Dr. Reyes
Bernadeta Wrobel	...	Flight Attendant
Jill Harland	...	German Woman
Peter Sawyer	...	Denver Man
Max Topplin	...	Angry 16 Year Old
Shaun Shetty	...	Indian Man

Storyline

When a commercial flight from Germany lands at Boston's Logan Airport without a single passenger or crew member on board alive, FBI agent Olivia Dunham is assigned to the investigative team. When her partner and lover John Scott suffers severe chemical burns, she seeks help from Dr. Walter Bishop a one-time university professor who experimented in the same field but has now been institutionalized for 17 years. To get his cooperation however, she has to get Bishop's son Peter's cooperation as well. The information they gather leads to Massive Dynamic, a huge multinational founded by someone who once shared laboratory space with Dr. Bishop. Agent Dunham also learns that what happened may have been part of a much larger pattern of strange phenomena.

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Plot Keywords:

woman wearing a gas mask | diabetes | cancer | pattern | laboratory | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

9 September 2008 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television, Fringe Element Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min (pre-release)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The glyphs at the ad breaks spell "observer".

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Goofs

When Peter gets up to go to the interrogation room to speak with Dr. Steig, the video display in the background shows Peter stepping in to the room before he gets anywhere near it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[open on plane flying through a storm]
Flight Attendant: [on P.A] Zeichen ist Angeschaltet. Befestigen sie bitten ihre Sicherheitsguertel. The Captain has turned on the "fasten seat belt" sign. Please make sure your seat belts are securely fastened.
German Woman: Ich moechte sehen, wie der film weiter geht.
Denver Man: I don't speak German. I'm from Denver.
German Woman: Dies ist mein erst flug.
Denver Man: I'm from Den...
[...]

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Connections

Features SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)

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Soundtracks

Main Title Theme
(uncredited)
Written by J.J. Abrams

User Reviews

In an alternate IMDb universe...

... where the rules are less strict and you can pen capsule reviews, I would simply write "early JJ Abrams" and that would be all you needed, millions of viewers from the present and possibly the future would "get" what that meant, and be able to decide whether or not to watch the show.

I can also tell you what this series is not. It is not a ripoff of X-Files since that show perfected a unique sort of narcissism which simply does not exist here. This is one of the most un-self-conscious productions in recent memory.

The closest analog is the original-original OUTER LIMITS, a show that specialized in gently but firmly leading the viewer deeper and deeper into the most outrageous scripts until you lost yourself in the story.

The Canuck sci-fi machine did a remake of OL in the 90s but nothing they did then, or could do now, comes close the production values that JJ incorporates into this stylish show.

So, to help newbies, imagine Outer Limits by way of Coppola and you'll a hint what this show is about.