In talking with the cast of NBC’s latest thriller The Event, the strongest thing the show wants to emphasize is it’s nothing like ABC’s Lost. They mean that the series won’t heap on mysteries and questions without providing answers. In watching the pilot episode the series is one that I will be tuning into next week as there are so many intriguing possibilities and questions raised that I couldn’t turn away. A wonderful cast combined with an engaging story makes The Event a must-see!
Jumping backwards and forwards in time the pilot episode follows several people as they try to make heads or tails of shocking revelations they encounter. Sean Walker (Jason Ritter) is on a romantic cruise with his girlfriend only to have her disappear. The girlfriend Leila (Sarah Roemer) is kidnapped and her mother killed by unknown people who force her father to crash an airplane that Sean is on in an attempt to stop him. President Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood) is arguing for the closure of a government facility holding a mysterious group of detainees led by fellow prisoner Sophia Maguire (Laura Innes) and when the President decides to meet the detainees he gets more than he bargained for.
The synopsis of the pilot is hard to write because it’s something you have to experience. So much happens in this first episode and in conjunction with the time jumps and various stories you really should get into this series first and then read the reviews. The various stories are all riveting, something that was sorely lacking in series like Heroes and Lost. Sean Walker is a loveable everyman who simply wants to propose to his girlfriend and the arrival of some mysterious friends causes him to lose the woman he loves. Ritter is a wonder to this show, he’s just handsome enough to ensnare the ladies but manly enough to get the men involved. If you’ve seen the advertising you know what happens to his girlfriend but even in the way the other couple with ulterior motives get involved, you know it signals something bad. Sean’s storyline is where the bulk of the action and terror comes from as you see plane crashes, and the episode opens with “found footage” of the mysterious event that we don’t get to see too much of, just enough to whet the appetite. President Martinez and the detainees don’t have a lot of time devoted to them in this pilot but even that little bit shows there is something incredibly mysterious going on, I’m jumping on the alien bandwagon for now but I could be completely wrong. By the end you’re wondering not only who are the detainees and what happened to Sean’s girlfriend, but what the hell happened to that airplane and who killed Leila’s mother? There are so many mysteries and according to stars Ritter and Underwood we will get some answers in the second episode which is great!
There are really no negatives to cite in this pilot episode, it does everything a solid pilot is supposed to do. There’s engaging actions, a highly compelling story and enough wonderful actors to keep the audience riveted on what their doing. The actors all give their roles a hint of authenticity that makes you enjoy spending time with them, predominately Ritter in this first go-round, and I am already eager to see episode two, something I haven’t said about a mystery show in awhile. The Event is a solid show for anyone who loves Lost or Heroes but doesn’t want their head to hurt for the next seven years trying to figure everything out.
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