The Event (2010–2011) User Reviews

Unique concept with adrenaline-pumping action!

[msmonicatan · 8/10 · 28 January 2011]

Honestly when i first saw the first few minutes of this pilot episode, I started to think maybe this could be somewhat unrealistic. For example, the airplane scene. How on earth did they get guns on board?? I am not going to give names in case i give away too much.

But laziness stopped me from switching the button and i watched on and on and on and then i realize, that the plot behind it actually has a much bigger mastermind to it and involves a lot of things happening at once. That doesn't mean its bad. It just means the writer and producers HAD BETTER explain and come to a conclusion with EVERY loose end they put out there. Otherwise, its damn interesting and addictive and now I am already on the last episode and CAN'T WAIT for Feb when the show returns!

The flashbacks aren't a problem for me AS LONG as the writers DO NOT make it like LOST. Hell, there's a fine line between staying focused and interested, and then there is just plain draining and exhausting to watch. And that was the case with Lost. So please guys, keep THE EVENT moving fast! Keep the flashbacks to a minimum if possible!

Acting wise, great for some. The ones that do it for me are Blake Sterling as the Head of CIA. That dude may be tiny but he sure is a force to be reckoned with. Thomas as the alien gone bad, and Vicky Roberts cos she's so hot! If The Event is able to withhold the audience's interests and keep us hooked with fresh, shocking twists for the rest of the hopefully many more seasons to come, and basically do what they have been doing for the 1st season, then i see this show lasting for as long as Lost did.

Could have been great, but it's not

[pool13 · 6/10 · 8 October 2011]

Some reviewers cannot understand why this series has been canceled. To be honest, i can.

The story is OK enough, but the series suffers from a number of problems.

First of all, they never get the pacing right. Most of the episodes are split between 2 separate story arcs. One of them, the Sean-side is mostly very boring. The first episodes are OK, but later on i caught myself skipping whole sections of an episode, because Sean and his accomplices don't get stuff done or its just uninteresting and pointless, what they do most of the time. It doesn't advance the story. They lurk around in the dark, and are following leads which often don't explain anything. Most of the time its just stuffing. Only in the last 2 or 3 episodes this pace picks up a little bit. The president story arc is much more interesting and often interrupted with the slow paced Sean-arc(Further reduced in watchability due to the horrible performance of Sarah Roemer).

Another problem are the very wooden and unconvincing performances of the whole cast. 2 or 3 of them are doing an OK job, but primary Leila has only one look, and one emotion. In every scene may it be sad, agitated or happy, she just looks like she's about to laugh.

That's awkward at its best, and unbelievable at its worst.

The story arc is spread over to many episodes. A good writer could have told this story with a good suspension arc and pace with half of the 22 episodes.

In the end, i'm not really sure what this series is trying to tell us, if anything at all. We are all selfish and aggressive bastards? We know that already. Benevolent aliens are better than us? No, they turn into us and plan a genocide.

The event is only mentioned at the end of the first season, and literally has little to do with everything that has happened in the first season. There are 2 or 3 connections but thats it.

The bottom line is, that "The Event" is slow paced, in times boring and uninspired, the performances are wooden and unbelievable and the story arc stretched extra thin to fill 22 episodes.

If you can see it on TV, you can do that, but i wouldn't pay money for it.

No complaints from me

[HeliKopteri · 8/10 · 29 September 2010]

Found it somewhat amusing how someone here was annoyed by the president of the the show being a Cuban refugee (and hence could not be an the president of the US of A in real life). Aliens apparently OK, but not a stretch that big from reality! :D

As a big sci-fi fan, I found the two first episodes far better than most alien related stuff I've seen. Feels like I've watched an entirely different show than the ones complaining of poor acting. Compared to the recent remake of V, I've found the actors of The Event far less plastic than they usually are in shows like this. There's something very likable about the male lead (Jason Ritter), and I'm happy the part didn't go to one of those "sharp blue eyes and a strong jaw"-characters. Neither has his TV-girlfriend (Sarah Roemer) done any lip pouting so far, and she feels -at least to me and as little as I've seen her so far - like an actual person.

Neither can I fully understand the complaints about "all this has been done before". What hasn't? Every single show on earth can be - and rightly so - compared to another. In the end all shows are about one or several conflicts. In that sense The Event really reminds me a lot of The Bold and the Beautiful (there's also a lot of conspiracies going on in that show).

If we - the viewers - dismiss a show after only two episodes, how can we at the same time complain about a network canceling a show we do like, and whine about how they should have "given it more time to grow"? At least I'm looking forward to how this one will turn out. As classic as the set up is, I did find the first two episodes refreshing from all the lighter sci-fi stuff with witty one-liners. For now I'll give it 8 out of 10, cause I do want to see in which direction this show will go.

Amazed that is has been cancelled !??!?!

[dannyjcarr · 10/10 · 7 June 2011]

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 !

Fascinating

[Isle1970 · 21 November 2010]

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.

If viewers would just stop whining...

[ddfcmp8 · 7/10 · 8 November 2010]

This show may be far from perfect, but it has a few good merits that are clouded by both the viewers, and the way the show has been erroneously compared to "Lost" and "24". To start with, after the pilot, the story began to run it's path into a twisted pretzel of unexplained events and occurrences that are slowly turning out with explanations. Sure, the flashing back and forth may do more harm than good at first, but maybe, it could lead to something better. I was against that tactic, until I stopped griping myself, and just eased up. Once you do this, the show is quite fun.

What the show has me at now, is the human interest. The story lines that show the difference between Simon and Sophia (good detainees) as opposed to Thomas (bad detainee)are really interesting. You have the former acting more like humans for the sake of all people, detained or civilian, and the conflict lays in the fascistic way that character Thomas is hell bent on freeing his people at any cost. There are layers of drama therein, and if people stop whining about all the negative aspects they see in this show, they might actually like it. You still don't know who you can trust so early on, and that's a good thing. Its meant to keep the viewers wondering.

Now for the cast. I say as much that Blair Underwood has been given a pretty crappy character in the president. He seems to make a bunch of pompous decisions, and doesn't really know what he's doing. Zeljko Ivanek needs a little more to do. His character is strong, but under utilized at this point. (7 episodes in) Laura Innes and Ian Anthony Dale carry the show tremendously as two of the "detainees" who care about the human condition, and the ways of the world they are living in. They're probably the best characters on the show. Jason Ritter and Sarah Roemer have a nice storyline that has it's own merits of suspense, but no real human interest. If they were removed from the show, it would be no big deal. The main interest lays in the governmental aspects. I will say, however, that Heather McComb as Agent Collier steals the show whenever on screen. I hope she sticks around.

Anyway, my point is that is really has enjoyable qualities and a few merits, and if some of the people would just stop complaining and just watch the show with a more opened mind unbiased or clouded by judgment, they might enjoy it. I do.

It's so damned annoying

[JoeyBagOfDonuts · 10/10 · 28 September 2020]

Everytime I find a show that keeps me interested, it's cancelled. What gives? The Event has action, intrigue, conspiracies, and now it's gone. And we'll never learn what The Event actually was. Boo!

Great concept, poor writing

[banteros · 6/10 · 5 April 2011]

Well, I wouldn't say the writing is completely poor. It's just... sloppy. The pilot episode was NOT easy to follow and it frustrated even me at first but I went with it and it worked.

Several others have pointed out the sloppiness (FBI office getting trashed, gun on a plane, a reveal squashed at the last second... repeatedly, etc, etc, etc.) however I must stress that the idea, the story is just too good for people to be trashing this series out of hand.

I for one intend to give the writers time to develop this so I hope it is not canceled. I'm all caught up now to Ep 15 and await the rest with the hope that the writers read some negative reviews and get a clue. Please.

I was amazed, twice.

[volk2001 · 10/10 · 23 September 2010]

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.

I would say it's worth watching

[enemari · 6/10 · 27 September 2010]

Yes, the storyline is a bit confusing and hard to catch, but I'm pretty sure the first episode was meant to be like that and the other episodes will bring some light into this all series.

And for me it was interesting to watch it, made me use my imagination and made me think what could happen next, because you really cant expect what happens next.

I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend to watch at least 3-4 episodes before making the final opinion about this series.

I'm hoping myself that my expectations don't fail me, tho they might. We'll see soon enough.

Getting more and more disillusioned

[mike_brunton · 5/10 · 17 October 2010]

Okay, okay ,okay, as a long time fan of sci-fi and fantasy the whole plot of the Event is really great. Yes, not in a clever mind-shattering way, but a solidly interesting premise. 97 'beings' with 99% of our own DNA crash land on earth in 1944. Kept in captivity for 60 odd years things are clearly starting to unravel. So far, so freakin' great. However, as another reviewer mentioned, writers seriously have to stop dishing out the same old, same old crap plot devices to carry a story. The cellphone is dead.........duh....the evil agent who gunned down a whole office is left with a little bonk on his head ,so he can promptly get up and chase them for another 3 minutes of 'exciting action'. In real life either the hero, who acts like Indiana Jones one moment or Doofus Dunderbolt the next or the agent who had just seen her entire office gunned down who would have double tapped him twice in the head and once in the heart for safety, I mean really!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if it's just too 'PG' for me, or the writers just aren't cool enough. The hero lacks real charisma and believability as said before and so far there are precious few other characters to care about...... The writers really need to drink a few shots of tequila with worms in it and take the gloves off,,,or just watch HOUSE..where a charismatic lead can carry a whole show, I really don't think the producers or directors know the direction they are taking our computer whizz-kid genius, who obviously will turn out to be an alien child,baby as well !

My Current MUST-WATCH Show!

[jasonrobertbiggs · 10/10 · 23 May 2011]

This is a fantastic show. Excellent cast, spearheaded by the amazing Blair Underwood who plays the African-American President. I'm not too keen on the Sophia character, who seems to have the same facial expression and voice mannerism, regardless of the situation at hand. But the rest of the cast is superb, particularly the President's White House team - they seem to have the gravity and charisma to easily pull off a successful "The West Wing" remake.

The show advertised itself as a "what if '24' and 'Lost' had a baby" TV offspring, and I am definitely getting that vibe. The constant pacing of action and suspense remind me of "24", but with more depth and realism, so it's not as cheesy and convoluted (oh don't get offended, I'm a huge "24" fan but I'll readily admit that "24" had a level of cheesiness and hokiness that was good for unintentional laughs). And the aura of mystery and plot development is reminiscent of "Lost." Admittedly, "Lost" had the more interesting character development, but "The Event" seems to have a stronger, more robust plot that certainly knows where it's headed, which makes me feel as if the writers for "The Event" already have a strong ending in plan many seasons in advance - you brave, disappointed "Lost" fans who hanged on until the series finale know EXACTLY what I'm talking about! There were some painfully sad moments that were very compelling. For example, Agent Lee, who seemingly never ages as a result of his extraterrestrial genes, ran into an elderly woman who was his girlfriend of apparently same age many decades ago, and had to pretend to not recognize his long-lost love for the Greater Good. Those were beautifully done, heart-wrenching scenes.

So far, I have been thoroughly satisfied with this show. Every episode has been great. I can see how someone who joins in midway might get confused and lose interest (of course - this IS a serialized drama!) - so I HIGHLY recommend starting from the first episode and watch at least three episodes. You WILL be hooked, guaranteed.

If this show gets canceled, I'll be hugely disappointed - it would really really say something about us as TV viewers if we allowed disappointing garbage like "Heroes" and "V" to run on for more than a season but allow a high-caliber show like "The Event" with excellent production value and strong plot to go off air. Watch it! You will love it, that is my promise.

Edit: I caught the season finale yesterday - I was THOROUGHLY satisfied with it. It was indeed a wild ride. Without giving anything away, I will just say what I saw in the last few seconds give me hope that we are in for a VERY exciting and compelling second season - that is, if the show's still on the air. Come on, NBC execs, don't let us down!

Getting lucky

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 2 June 2014]

Or unlucky as it seems. Because even though it got to make a whole season (there are a lot of projects out there that get canned way before that), it also could've gone a lot longer (that's just a guess of course, but there is always material to continue a story, be it with some of the remaining cast or entirely new people, depending on the outcome of the show you're watching).

While the show has some regulars and it stretches logic thin from time to time, there are many factors that make this worth your time. Taylor Cole would be one of them and the character she is playing. Even though her motives and character are getting simpler by the minute, the overall drama does compensate for that. Jason Ritter who might remind you a lot of his father, plays the main role and has to switch gears from time to time. The science fiction part with the "not enough time" part of every episode spice up the drama.

Morality wise this tries to be gray and as open as possible, but sometimes misses out on that by miles. There are quite a lot of inconsistencies surrounding a lot of things and reveals that don't make sense. But if you stick with it, it will/might give you what you were looking for. Don't know if this ever continues (imdb still has it as "open"), but whatever the case, you could watch it as it is and still be entertained

Stale cookie... *may contain spoilers*

[malaidoskop · 5/10 · 26 June 2011]

I just finished watching the event and it felt like chewing a stale cookie. I am a real die hard sci-fi fan, but this show was somehow full of plot holes and finally *spoiler* in the last episode the event itself was mentioned and it was a non-event...

So Sophia's people are basically just 2 billion individuals. If they'd come to China and India, nobody would even NOTICE the surplus of 2 billion people. Currently we have 7 billion, by 2020 we'll have 10 billion anyway, so why are 2 billion aliens a big problem? They certainly have technology and knowledge to trade for land?

Of course this show needs to have it all: aliens, government conspiracies, secret templar like organizations (Dan Brown), weird Frenchmen, killers with a conscience and "I am your father, Luke" type daddy issue stories.

The US president Martinez can make all sorts of global decisions without involving the Russians and the Chinese. He also seems to be rather lazy, because he has all the time in the world to take care of all sorts of minor things himself. According to the screenwriter of this show, the president only does some cocktail parties and he meets for one meeting a day with his chief of staff and generals. Cool job! He has the time to lounge around at the hospital.

Of course all doctors - even scientists not working with humans - have stethoscopes around their necks and their acting is telenovela level at best.

Simon Lee always gets out of dangerous situations looking dapper without a stain of dirt on him. Very cool superpower!

Still Zeljko Ivanek, Bill Smitrovich and Laura Innes are great actors and I also like Ian Anthony Dale. The show is fun to watch.

Great! When the 2 season will be ready?

[hristo_betafest · 10/10 · 18 May 2011]

A different and great scenario! Why they do not produce more movies like this, different than the "emo trash" ..vampire stories and scraps like this, which are only pointed for the teens. After "24", "Flash forward" there is a lack of good TV serials. Great actors work, the scenario sway the minds. I suggest the producers to look more in the ratings in the other countries, because they are also a "market" :-) I think NBC has made the right decision to give a credit to the crew filming the serial,so please give them another for filming next season. All Europe is with you:-)) We want more, We want more, we want more!!! Personally I want to see what will happened if the aliens make it to Earth! Just my opinion! The conspiracy is like a narcotic for the audience.

Political Alien Conspiracy... very 2010

[theresaman · 22 October 2010]

Traditional political conspiracy series combined with Alien Invasion theme.

It is cleverly done, and feels very contemporary, especially plane crash incident. Camera-work and effects is done in an unobtrusive way, unlike some recent TV shows where camera-work gets in the way of viewing.

Acting is solid and plot is interesting. It is a clever idea, but ultimately all is going to rest in the hands of the scriptwriter, whether he can maintain his avoidance of cliché, and keep the dialogue stimulating.

Overall, worth it so far... one can only hope that future shows continue high standard set. (Only seen first 3 episodes so far).

Interesting story but could have been smarter

[nancysfallon · 7/10 · 17 June 2014]

Its unfortunate that this series was canceled after its second year. The story was portrayed by some talented actors (Jason Ritter did a phenomenal job) and the story line had much potential to become as big a hit as "Lost", in my opinion. However, I think the story line fell short due to the underdevelopment of sub story lines and important characters.

The viewer craved to know what was it exactly that set Sleepers apart from their human counterparts. Other than advanced knowledge in the physical sciences and immunity to certain diseases, we never really learned of their true alien nature. Aside from a few more decades of accumulated knowledge, and slower aging (not that big deal a deal to me), what were their 'special' abilities? What could they do that humans could never do? To me, the Sleepers as a whole were actually quite a boring lot. The back history surrounding the discovery of the ancient scroll as it related to the planetary exodus of the ancient Sleeper earth civilization was explained away too quickly, simply and lacked important detail. It could have been revealed (even to the main character himself) that the Sean character was from a long ancestral line of guardian angels or the James Dempsey character was some long lost Uncle.

With respect to character development, the Sophia character lacked depth and 'flipped sides' too easily and me as a viewer, couldn't buy it - not enough dramatic acting here. One who is a life long peace activist doesn't become a warmonger overnight; the death of her son (too easily manipulated by his evil girlfriend - too cliché). Also to me, it makes no sense that an intelligent and 'advanced' race would follow a flip flop leader so blindly (too hive like, too cliché). Wouldn't they instead consist of independent thinkers and doers? Also, an 'advanced' humanoid species would never relocate their entire planet into another solar system - doing so would threaten the stability of the system itself causing planets, including Earth, to spin out of orbit and become uninhabitable, thereby disturbing the stability of the entire Universe. More research into astrophysics, etc., needed to have been done by the producers and story writers in order to build the series upon a framework of a level of believable fact. Lastly, I would have loved to see the Leila character develop into an independent, intelligent and strong young woman - she never really came into 'her own'. Just as the toughened Vicki character softened over time, the Leila character could have developed into an empowered young woman in her own right instead of remaining boyfriend dependent and immature for her age (too cliché).

With respect to the presidential characters, I thought that they were well casted. To me, they were well developed and believable.

Bottom line, a series worth watching, but if a motion picture of The Event is to be made, the producers and writers need to thoroughly do their homework in order for the story to be a super smart one and with characters who grow and develop into those an audience can believe.

the best show since prison break

[sarmad-g · 10/10 · 11 May 2011]

This is definitely the best show since prison break. I have to admit that the first few episodes of the event were no where near as how good and extremely intriguing and exciting it has become up to the 20th episode!! As a result of the first few episodes not being good enough for some, there has been a dramatic fall in the number of viewers. BUT if all of the viewers carried on watching until now, i am very sure they would find it very difficult to ignore. What has made it better in the second half of the season is that the plot has changed, there are so many twists, its almost the perfect show to watch. Its nothing like I've seen before in terms of the ET stuff, etc! i cant wait for the last 2 episodes. I thought that there would never ever be a show as good as prison break, ever!! This show is definitely the one. I really, really want a season 2!!!

Not a bad series.

[poltraite · 6/10 · 11 December 2018]

Took me a while to get into it but once you start following the story it gets interesting. My biggest problem with this series is the inconsistency with the characters. One minute they're smart and make sense, the next they become confused and irritating. Many characters are not consistent with thair character. Hard to explain but watch and you'll see...

Finally an Original Show to be glued too...each week is better than the last!

[cambodimerican24 · 10/10 · 23 October 2010]

For those who've seen many of the other hit shows (I hate to mention it but Lost being one of them...)will be getting a fresh new concept in that this show is as contemporary as things can get...I myself am very intrigued in the way the underlying plot ties into real-world conspiracy and extraterrestrial questions. From the Pilot to every episode released each week the suspense and edge-of-your-seat tension continues to have you glued to the television set waiting for more to be answered. The continuity of the plot is masterful in what I can only describe is something like Christopher Nolan's movie Inception or how the movie Vantage Point cleverly sequenced each cut to finally reveal the truth. The flashbacks and snippets of each character are revealed more and more through brief yet significant cuts. The cast and acting is superb in my opinion. For those who go in wanting to see a more "Lost" like plot should stray away as this is a totally different genre. Too many viewers complain that the cuts are confusing and that they don't reveal enough but this show wouldn't be as original and intriguing if every flashback gave you 100% of what each character was about. Each flashback lasts about a minute or so and does just enough to provide you with another small piece of what The Event is all about without being so info-packed to confuse even the most close-minded viewers. Whats the point of watching the show if the creator gave you the beginning, middle, and end all at once? Don't just take my word for it, go and watch it yourself and see how each episode takes you on a thrill-ride that you wish will never end. I give The Event a 10 out of 10 so far...the best Sci-Fi/Conspiracy Theory show out today

More of a people-against-people drama than Sci-fi.

[Bernie4444 · 6/10 · 2 March 2024]

This is a fun series to watch as it builds up with each episode. You cannot be sure who are the good guys or bad guys and which ones to kibitz.

The basic story is aliens with only 1% DNA difference crash-lands in the artic and are rounded up and kept prisoners for 66 years. Well, maybe some got away.

The Event- The Complete Series. There is very little potty mouth. No gratuitous sex. Even car chases and shoot-em-up scenes are not that graphic. Again, it is people vs. People.

The only drawback is after watching 5 DVDs the program abruptly stops.

The book series is humongous so I am not sure I will get closer by reading. But I will try.

THIS is what constitutes passable television programming?

[redemption37927 · 1/10 · 23 September 2010]

JUST SO WE'RE CLEAR, it's a show about some dude whose girlfriend goes missing, which segues into his hijacking a plane flown by his would-be father-in-law to stop an assassination attempt on the President that ultimately gets sucked into a wormhole…and at some point months ago, there was a panel of execs at NBC who heard that and said 'Consider it green-lit!'

It's worth pointing out that I had to rate this '1-star' because there's no option for none. There's a lack of cohesion practically everywhere, which wastes somewhat decent performances by Jason Ritter and Laura Innes, who can't possibly be taking this very seriously themselves. I think THE ONLY WAY this could be even somewhat redeeming is if the creators embrace the absolute absurdity of the circumstances and continue to just throw the most random crap our way. Maybe if they include pirates, tornadoes, Steven Seagal, killer hookers, gigantic Micro Machines, Johnny 5, Roseanne, the '69 Mets, Jeffrey Ross and a cymbal- clapping monkey might I even think about considering this a worthy- enough investment of my time. I highly doubt this will happen, about as much as I doubt this will culminate into something close to relevant.

Even though it was only one season, I still rewatch it every year or so.

[tailsofthewind · 10/10 · 25 February 2020]

It's quality work. Great casting, great script, and direction. It also appears to take you around the world to beautiful locations. I love the backstory, and the constant flashbacks and jumps in time. The series was far-and-above most of the garbage on television back then, and now too, quite frankly.

Much like "Firefly" and other many other series gone to soon, someone didn't realize what they had...

Exhausting

[Sanpaco13 · 6/10 · 26 March 2012]

I remember when this show came out I saw an ad claiming that it was 24 meets LOST. They were obviously trying to capitalize on all the fans of those two shows who suddenly found themselves without a favorite show on TV. Unfortunately, as it turned out this show was exactly that, however it was the worst of 24 and LOST. The never-ending cliff hangers and plot twists that left you beating your head against the wall. At first it was exciting until you realized that they didn't ever plan on addressing any of the mysteries directly. They were just going to give a couple episodes at a time and then go into another month or two long hiatus in which you are wondering why they just killed half of the main characters on a bus. I stuck with it as long as I could, but at the end, watching the show was just torture for me. There were some promising moments and the show even had a promising premise, but the writing never capitalized on them. Instead we were teased to the point of anger and hostility and finally abandonment.

Confusion reigns supreme

[carlabrams · 2/10 · 21 September 2010]

My wife and I bought into the hype of the commercials, which made the show look interesting. We then made the mistake of watching the show.

The plot holes were so incredibly painful it wasn't funny.

So we have Sean Walker (played by Jason Ritter) on a plane - and he manages to get a gun onto the plane. Seriously? So you're asking us to completely suspend reality in the opening scene, because apparently the writers have never been through an airport security screening. Fine, then we go back in time to have a flashback. Cool - we need some set-up.

So Sean and his soon-to-be fiancé' Leila Buchanan (played by Sarah Roemer) are going on a cruise. Leila is a single mom, with her daughter being left with Leila's parents. Okay, fine. Then we flash forward. Then we flash back. That continues happening all throughout the whole episode - and basically ruined the whole episode.

Let's see - what other reality breaks were taken? I can handle Blair Underwood portraying a President. Except that his character, Elias Martinez, apparently was a Cuban refugee, based upon the comments made, which means he's not eligible to BE President of the United States.

In another scene, we have Sean on the plane, standing around being full of angst because he's trying to get into the cockpit of the plane. (Which is going to be 'crashed' into the President by Leila's father, in order to obtain the release of his granddaughter from kidnappers, even after his wife was killed in front of him...) Just so happens that there's an Air Marshal on the plane. Sean is distracted - Air Marshal has a clear shot at him. It would screw things up, but the Air Marshal isn't going to say, "Drop your gun!". He's going to put two into center of mass, one into the head, and take out the hijacker.

Oh, and in another flashback, Leila stayed on the cruise ship because she wasn't feeling well. Sean, who was supposed to be proposing to her, goes snorkeling with another woman that he'd rescued. He gets back onto the cruise ship and suddenly his key doesn't work for his room, someone else is in there, and the ship doesn't show any record of being on there. Except, of course, that also shows that the writers have never been on a cruise ship, either. When you come back onto a cruise ship after having been ashore, you have to swipe your card to get through security just to get back ON the ship. If his card didn't work on the room, it wouldn't work to get him onto the ship in the first place.

Oh, and obviously if the President has an IQ higher than room temperature, he's going to figure out that when the head of the CIA and his Vice-President, who were supposed to be at his speech and mysteriously weren't there when suddenly there was an assassination attempt is going to have something to talk about. And we won't even talk about the failure of the Secret Service as shown. The President would have been simply picked up, thrown into that car, and it would have been squealing tires to get out of there, regardless of what was going on - instead of suddenly everyone just sitting there watching an airplane heading at them.

I notice that here on IMDb that they have 8 episodes of this made. I'll be amazed if they all actually air.