Capsule Review: Threshold 1.1/1.2
As I’ve said quite a few times before, one of the most difficult things about a pilot episode is the sheer amount of exposition that must be included. This must be balanced against the need to tell a complete and engaging story, because without that to gain the attention and interest of the intrigued audience, the series would be short-lived at best and DOA at worst.
It’s a very good thing that “Threshold” began its run with a two-hour premiere, which essentially took two episodes and merged it into one pilot. If that hadn’t been done, then the first hour alone would have been the kiss of death for the series. There’s so much heavy-handed exposition that it feels like the writers took the series bible and just gave characters dialogue. It wasn’t until the second hour that the story finally began coming together for me, once the mystery began to reveal its true depth.
The characters were at least strong enough to keep my interest from waning. Carla Gugino is someone I find intensely attractive, and she doesn’t disappoint in this role. She draws you into her character’s very lonely and terrifying world, and for someone with a lot of experience drawing up contingencies, she seems rather ill-prepared for seeing one through. That, and her team must have sounded good on paper, but in practice, there are a lot of issues.
Seeing these characters outside of their introductions, working in the field and dealing with the realities of being caught in the middle of an escalating government black project, is something I look forward to in the weeks to come. Just the fact that a “little person” is on the cast, with the biggest personality, speaks volumes. I think these are great characters with a lot of depth, and they’ve barely scratched the surface.
Of course, while I certainly focus on the characters and what they bring to the table, the aspect of the pilot that really caught my attention is the depth of the mystery itself. In terms of concept, I’ve read science fiction literature with similar themes, and while there are considerations inserted to make this a viable series for television, the concept has credibility. I love the idea of some unknown extra-dimensional race intersecting with Earth’s population for some unknown, possibly invasive, purpose.
While it certainly looks as if the purpose is invasive, that may not be the case. It’s just as possible that contact is highly dangerous for humans, and that this effort is meant to be a selective creation of a hybrid (or something similar) to attempt communication. It’s simply too early to tell. But just in the first two hours, elements of the mystery have been introduced that truly intrigue me. A lot of that “science” is pure nonsense, but it’s very well done and feels like it was designed with an answer in mind. (Braga, don’t screw this one up!)
A lot of my enjoyment of this series is going to be predicated on my ability to enjoy the characters, the ongoing issue of the rights of the team members, and the various pieces of the puzzle that are introduced. I say this because there are elements that trouble me. The basic situations in the two episodes merged into this single pilot are somewhat hard to swallow. For instance, after getting all of those soldiers involved in the investigation on the naval vessel, why was there a complete lack of support at the water treatment plant?
For that matter, Caffrey is in danger just long enough to establish that Gunneson is trying to communicate, so the audience can see that there’s a connection. As soon as that purpose is served, the backup troops rush in. It’s all a bit too obviously structured. The story could have flowed a bit better; after all, the character scenes, while still very expository at times, felt more genuine.
One other thing concerns me. For all the intelligent science fiction elements, there are far too many scenes that fell like scenes from the latest “Resident Evil” game. Alien zombies? That’s going to get old fast. I rather prefer the idea that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of related signals affecting disparate populations, any number of which can be used as the focus of an episode. If this “alien zombie” thing becomes too common, it could be the death of the show.
For now, however, I’m letting my appreciation of the good things overcome my annoyance towards the bad. If nothing else, Gugino is likely to keep me interested enough to see where things progress, and if the writers can get past clunky exposition and illogical action set pieces, then the mystery will be fun to watch unfold. So far, for me, this is another guardedly good start to a new series.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 7/10