Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Event: Season 1 Episode 1 - I Haven't Told You Everything



Welcome all to the TV Addicts Blog!  Welcome to all LOST fans, 24 fans, FlashForward fans, and all those with hope that there may be life after an era of wonderful serialized television and character dramas.  THE EVENT is upon us folks.  The critics have been skeptical.  Everything that has attempted to follow in LOST's footsteps has been met with lots of reluctance from TV Viewership.  No one can quite crack the code that LOST found.   The problem is, the code that they cracked was being the right show, right place, right time.  Everything fell into place.   Can magic strike in a different way with a new show?  I, too, have my reservations.  But, I too, want to have hope.  I want a new show to capture my imagination and make me obsess over every detail.  Will The Event be this new show?   It's way too soon to tell, but I will say that I enjoyed this pilot episode very much and am definitely ready for more.  Hopefully, the show will continue to deliver.

Most of the Pilot episode was a "get to know the cast" episode.  And, if you have watched any television over the summer, gone to the movies, or just caught any of NBC's brilliant marketing...you probably have seen a majority of the pilot episode before it even aired!  I know I felt that way for most of the episode.  But the last 2 minutes, that everyone has been hyping was definitely worth sticking around for.  It opens up a whole realm of possibilities about where this show will go.  They were not afraid to let their Sci-Fi flag wave in the first episode.  That is a liberating feeling, but it also could scare audiences away.  I hope it's the former before the latter!  The recap begins after the jump!
The first episode was broken up into several character story lines with intertwining flashbacks.   Some critics said this was confusing.  It really wasn't too bad.  There were obviously events that happened 13 months ago that set events into motion for the present day.  Then there were events that happened a little more than a week ago for our new reluctant hero - Sean Walker.  All story lines intersect into one "EVENT" at the end of the episode, which yes, is NOT the event!   So, let's meet some characters and get to the recap folks! 


President Elias Martinez and the Alaska Detainees



The President, played by the always entertaining Blair Underwood, is new to the office and is a no-nonsense type of President.  He doesn't like being in the dark.  He has learned about detainees being kept at a facility in Mount Inostranka, Alaska.  One of the President's advisor's, CIA Director Blake Sterling (aka Juliet Burke's ex-husband on LOST and that crazy Hero kidnapper on Heroes), has told him that he has been kept in the dark for "plausible deniability".   There is definitely a lot left open here to interpretation about Martinez and his family's background.  But it would seem that Elias has something in common with the 97 detainees in Alaska and he has plans in the present day to shut down the facility.   He doesn't feel it is right to keep this group of "non-Americans" imprisoned and there is a press conference about to happen where he will announce the termination of the facility.  His advisors make a strong case for keeping them detained and that it is for the benefit of the larger population.   These detainees seem to be the source of some huge secret that the show is, for now, keeping under wraps.  And, no doubt, will be connected to THE EVENT, whenever we find out what that is.  A reporter apparently has been given exclusive information which is further complicating the issue of not going forward with the press conference.  The crew that are "in the know" about these detainees seem very scared about the potential of letting them loose.  Here's a few things to keep in mind. 

13 Months Ago
  • Eli somehow obtains a file about this facility and confronts Sterling about it.  Against Sterling's wishes, Eli wishes to go to the facility.  Based on information provided earlier in the episode, it would seem that Simon Lee (see a few bullets down) wanted to make sure Eli found out about the facility. 

  • The President is brought to the facility in Mt. Inostranka.  We get a few shots of the facility, but nothing too much to make out right now on what was done to these detainees (or what the detainees have done to their captors!)

  • The detainees were supposedly assembled to meet the President.  But all we see is his introduction to their leader.  Yes, we have an all-star cast here folks.  Now it is Laura Innes from E.R.! (I didn't even mention how the CandyMan looks like he might be the Head Military Dude)   Anyway, Laura plays Chief Detainee: Sophia Maguire


  • We might want to take note that Simon Lee, the guy in the back is also the guy in the present trying to chase down the plane.   I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of this visit to the facility in future episodes.  But I've been wrong on other shows before! 

  • We see Simon meeting with Sophia at a different point in the episode, but still 13 months ago.  He is talking about recapturing "William."  Sophia is happy to hear this, but William was difficult to find and not happy to be back.  What was this William up to?  Your guess is as good as mine.   But William wants to buy his freedom and tell "THEM" about THE EVENT.  Simon is determined that people need to be warned to be prepared for the Event.  But Sophia does not want people to know...William's mind must be changed.   As well as "THEIR PEOPLE" on the outside.   Maybe Sophia wanted to remain protected until the time was right?   Eh I dunno.  Too much mystery right now to make any kind of judgement. 


Present Day

  • We see Eli and Sophia meeting in Miami for the Press Conference.  Sophia and her fellow detainees, I suppose, have been prepared for this for a long time.  


  • It is probably important to note that the Vice President and Director Sterling disappeared from the location an hour before Press Conference time.  This would seem to implicate them on the Assassination Plot. 
  • Then all hell breaks loose.  Secret Service receive word that they have lost all radar service, the entire system on the Eastern Seaboard is down. They scramble to get the President out of there as it could be a threat to him.
  • Then they see it, a plane headed straight for them.  Who is on this plane, why is heading straight for them?  Well, we may find out a LITTLE bit about that in the section ahead! 



Sean Walker and the Proposal Gone Wrong



Sean Walker is your everyday man who gets caught up in something much bigger than he can ever realize.  We get a little bit of a background into how it all starts for him, but there seems to be more details to fill in on what gets him from his interrupted proposal attempts to him trying to prevent a plane from crashing into the President of the United States!   

11 Days Earlier
We start at Sean's girlfriend Leila Buchanan's house (or her parent's house) where the 2 of them are prepping for a cruise.  


  • Leila has a sister Samantha who, of course, wants to go on the cruise with her sister and Sean.  But that will have to wait for next time. 
  • While the girls are all bonding, Sean is taking this opportunity to awkwardly ask Michael Buchanan (Leila's dad) for his blessing.  That's right folks, Sean is going to propose on this cruise!  
  • Naturally, Michael tells Sean that if he hurts her then he's a dead man!  Ahhh foreshadowing, beautiful thing. 


8 Days Earlier
  • We'll get back to the Buchanan family in a bit, let's go on vacation for a little with Sean and Leila. Ahhhh the tropics.  Okay, so things get all lovey dovey for a bit and Sean hatches his master plan. They go on a hike and he comes up with some cheesy story about how they want to live on a deserted island with just them.  And then he begins to talk about how he loves her and calling her by her first name.  And just as he's about to get out the ring there's a scream! HEEEEELPPPP!!!! 


  • There's a girl Vicki, she's bad news, and she's pretending to drown!  Then there's a guy in a sling, he's pretending to have a broken arm.   But Sean is called into action and he must save her!  So, he does what any video game developer who was about to propose to his out of his league girlfriend would do.  He jumps in to save ANOTHER damsel in distress! 


  • Long story short, he saves her and then they all become drinking buddies.  Except, they kinda drug Leila and put her out of commission for snorkeling the next day.  "Why do they call them ruffies if you end up on the floor?  They should just call them floories!" (oh right "TV" addicts blog, my bad)

  • Meanwhile, Leila's dad calls to check in on what's going on.  One would think he wants to find out if Sean proposed yet.  But he did seem rather nervous about not hearing from them.  We get a different perspective of this scene later where we find out that Leila's sister Samantha gets taken by some mysterious people and it would seem that Leila's mom is shot and killed!!! WHAAATTT!?!?  I guess there is a chance that this female shooter was killed and not the mother, but we'll see.   This may or may not drive Michael Buchanan's later motives in the present day. 
  • Everything unravels from here for Sean Walker.  He goes snorkeling with only Vicki and she makes him take a picture with her.  Meanwhile, probably her boyfriend (or associate) was kidnapping Leila and then eliminating Sean and Leila's identities or something.  Seriously, they planted another couple in their room #5314 (note the flight number is 514 in the present day.  I think this show likes numbers too) and then erased their record of even being on the cruise, and then security tries to escort Sean to the ship's security sector for additional questions.  NO THANKS, says Sean's internal dialogue as he makes a run for it.  To be continued in a future flashback! 





23 Minutes Earlier (AKAPresent Day)
Fast forward a few days later to the present and we have Sean with knowledge of what's going on and trying to stop a plane from crashing into the President.  He might possibly know that Simon Lee is trying to stop the plane from ever taking off but if it does, he is the last resort to stop it from happening.   And he also knows that Michael Buchanan is the PILOT of the plane, with some kind of motivation to crash this thing!   Is it to keep his daughter safe and alive?  Maybe his wife too?  We just don't know for sure.  And yes, I think the reference to 23 on this show is a huge tip of the hat to its predecessor LOST.  

  • It would seem that once Sean sees the plane is going to take off, he has to get into action.  He gets up from his seat and pulls a gun out at the flight attendant asking to be taken into the cockpit.    
  • He gets on the phone to talk to his future father-in-law and tells him that it's not too late but they have to act now.  Ahh but the plan is foiled by the Air Marshal!
  • Sean drops his gun but insists that one of them has to get into the cockpit.  But before anything can happen, there is a gunshot in there.  So, then they start to believe that Sean is not intending them harm.  They work together to try to get into the cockpit.  But it's too late.  Buchanan enters an override on the security access code.   Did I mention the military was going to shoot down the plane too?   Sean tells Mike over the phone "whatever they promised you you can't trust them.  we'll find her together!"  or something like that.   They're talking about Leila.  Sean says to Michael that Leila would never want him to do this.   Hmmm, so I guess we don't really know what happened to her sister Samantha.  It doesn't sound like she is in jeopardy too.  Would they really kill off a 7 year old in the first episode of a network tv show?   Who knows???   Anyway, Michael looks pretty conflicted. 


The Crazy Cliffhanger

As the plane approaches, the entire ground is shaking at the press conference grounds.  Things are blowing around all over the place.  Seems like a lot stronger force than the approaching plane could have provided. 

  • The fighter jet has a system jam and backs off.   The plane gets closer and closer. 

  • And then a bright light happens and the plane moves back in time to 1977 on the Island! (oh wait...wrong show), but the Plane really did disappear into a bright crazy light!  There was a boom that propelled lots of objects forward, then the light vanished and the wind stopped.  Right in the middle of it was a very observant Sophia (or involved?).  

  •  Sophia tells President Eli that "They" saved us.  And when the President asks who, Sophia declares the episode's name "I Haven't Told You Everything".........






And that's it folks!  The pilot episode of THE EVENT!  Are you intrigued?  I sure am.  I have no idea what to make of that ending.  Sure, recent Sci-Fi makes us want to lean towards alternate universes and wormholes and whatever, but will this show try to be different that what we have seen recently?   Where on earth could the plane have gone?  Who was responsible for it?  The mysterious detainees?  Some other power that the detainees have been keeping secret over the years?   I have no idea, but am definitely curious to hear everyone else's thoughts on this. 

I do like the narrative device though.  While similar to LOST, it is different enough where it seems fresh.  It seems like the flashbacks are more the narrative device than the present day events.  At least for this FIRST episode.  But they have left a lot of holes in the past to fill in in future episodes so I look forward to see where they go with it.   I have read that major questions will be answered after several episodes but then it will introduce new questions.  So it's like LOST in the fact that answers will lead to more questions, but they are promising earlier answers than having to wait 6 years in hope of some but never to get them (not a bust on LOST.  You guys know I loved that show and will defend it forever!)   But for those that want immediate satisfaction, or relatively immediate, this might be the show for you.  We'll see how it goes!  

I'm definitely on board for now.  Let's see how things go!  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week!  

End Credits

  • Follow me on Twitter! For updates on this blog as well as my random comments from time to time.  http://www.twitter.com/tvaddictsblog
  • Find my EVENT posts also at http://www.thetvevent.com.  If you're looking for more information on The Event, this site is a great source to check out.  I also have worked out a deal to share my recaps over there as well.  So read wherever you like! 
  • Keep checking back for posts on other shows.  I will be recapping Fringe this season as well as keeping up with other shows I enjoy from time to time.  I look forward to great discussions with everyone! 

Screen shots were provided courtesy of my TiVo, my Mac and thank you NBC for not getting mad at me for posting them! 


29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,
Your Lost blog was excellent and you've done a good job here. I must say that I am questioning this series mostly due to the lack of NBC's commitment, at least IMHO, for example.
1. It's a 1 hour premier vs 2
2. Too much CGI--the helicopter, Inostranka itself, the airplane on the ground with the Ford SUV and in the air.
3. Close up shots, IMO to avoid the expense of big shots for example the big climax had too many up tight shots, including several of the table shanking and dishes falling--I wanted to laugh. Where were the shots of buildings, cielings, etc?

I know it might be nit picky but did you notice the Ford SUV was keeping up with the airplane toward the end?

I'll watch again as the story line seems interesting and some of the actors are good. I'm just questioning the production quality. If NBC wanted a new Lost with the associated audience, they will have to invest similarly.

BTW, I voted for Mad Men among others.

Again thanks for your work

Richard

Mike V. said...

Thanks Richard! I'm not going to try and defend this show too much yet because it's far too early and you have valid concerns. But let me see what I can do here to give you more confidence.

1.) LOST premiered as a 2 week premiere. 1 hour 1 week and the 2nd hour the 2nd week. The premiere was an event but it was far from the EVENT that LOST became.
2.) CGI wasn't great. One shot of the plane taking off was pretty rough. But there was the submarine in LOST that everyone complained about! lol
3.) Very good point. I guess we'll have to see how they do on that. We have to keep in perspective that LOST was the most expensive Pilot ever produced and no one is ever really going to be able to pull that off again. But it does make these attempts pale in comparison.

As for the SUV keeping up with the plane....that was laughable but the guy that created this was a fan and tried to incorporate the best parts of both LOST AND 24. 24 had some of the most unrealistic sequences ever but we had to suspend our disbelief for entertainment purposes!

LOST was a unique show and I don't think we should be looking for its exact replacement. We gotta go for story here first and if we're intrigued by the story...we should stick with it for a bit. We have to remember...this IS television. LOST was like a film being played out on Television for 6 years. I totally agree with you that it would be awesome if a large investment like that could be made again, butI just don't see it happening.

As for Mad Men, I love the show....but I just don't know if recapping it is up my alley. I'm not the biggest history buff of the 60's and I feel like I'd leave something critical out when discussing the show. I enjoy watching it, this season has been on top of its game. I actually was going to try and do a post last night with some quick thoughts on Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, How I Met Your Mother and Chuck but I just ran out of time. (busy work week). I'm not ruling out a Summary post for Fall Premiere week yet though. I really want to sneak those in every now and then so we can discuss these other shows. Afterall, this is the TV Addicts blog! :-)

Thanks for checking out the recap and for the props on the LOST blog!

Chris Stedman said...

Great recap Mike.
It was a decent first episode but had a lot of quirks I didn’t like. The biggest was Sean and Leila and their drinking friends. So let me get this straight, instead of canceling the snorkeling trip and stay with you hot future fiancée, you leave her behind and hang out with your new hot friend Vicki?? Good luck getting Leila to say yes after she see’s all the pics you took. That wouldn’t go over to well with my wife.

As far as the narrative device, I didn’t like it. It broke up the story way to much and there were too many recaps of the same event within everyone’s POV.

To compare it to Lost’s pilot where the action was driven by the characters as opposed to The Event where the action drove the characters. They didn’t give us enough information about any of the characters for me to connect with any of them. It could have benefited as a 2 hour event.

I know I’m just listing negatives but overall the show shows promise and I’ll be watch next week.

MJ said...

I liked it ! Wasn't all that confused either LOL But I also read alot of critics saying that.

DId anyone else think of the movie Millenium when that plane disappeared ? So is it similar that there is another verison of earth (future) and that the plane was taken there and these visitors are here to either help us do something or to NOT do something. Obviously too early to say of course. Or they are Xmen ! LOL

"Based on information provided earlier in the episode, it would seem that Simon Lee wanted to make sure Eli found out about the facility." ?? Really ? I didn't get that at all. Seemed to me that Simon was of the same thought as Sophia since he helped capture William and by trying to stop the plane was trying to stop the reveal of what they can do.

Sean seemed as equally nervous of Simon getting to the plane as he did daddy-in-law crashing it .

"And then a bright light happens and the plane moves back in time to 1977 on the Island! (oh wait...wrong show)" LOL Good one.

Mike V. said...

Thanks Chris!

Yeah, the episode was far from perfect. I made similar comments about Sean ditching his hot future wife for this other girl. It made no sense...and I actually felt awkward watching that part with my wife! lol I agree, there had to be a reason she was snapping those pictures...it's going to come back to bite him in the rear.

I don't know if I'd like that narrative device every week...but I enjoyed it to cover a lot of ground and introduce some questions in the first episode. But, yeah, if they keep it up at that frantic pace...it could be nuts. I don't know if the Pilot really focused on the characters for LOST. It was setting the tone of the show and the stakes. We got to know Jack a little bit but not much. It was as we dived further into Season 1 that we got character episodes where we learned a lot more. In fact, I think this Event Pilot spent MORE time building out some character backgrounds, especially for Martinez and Walker. Not that they did it as great as it was done in LOST....but they did spend a lot of time building out their stories and what they're all about. I think future episodes may focus on particular characters but they need to to show us all of them in the opener.

We'll see! I totally agree on the promise of the show...all we can do is hope. Thanks for sharing your 2 cents!

Mike V. said...

@MJ - Ahhh Millenium....for some reason I loved that movie! lol I actually didn't think about it when I was watching it but I could totally see that. Moving through time would be totally cool with me. It all fits in the genre lol I think I would like these people being from the future more than them being mutants of any kind. But we'll see what happens!

As for Eli...i didn't think that at first either but when I rewatched the scene (after having watched the scene with Eli and Sterling) it seemed to connect. Lee said something like "I'll make sure he finds out about it" ....and then Sophia commented that it would do no good or something like that.

Good point on Sean being nervous of Simon also. I was just taking a guess! lol

And yeah...none of these POST-LOST blogs would be worth it without a reference that makes us all feel at home :-)

Mike V. said...

Ratings are in. The Event premiered to 11.19 Million viewers. In this day and age that's really good! (Flashforward started around the same but then quickly went down)

Unfortunately, the promising show Lonestar tanked with 4 million viewers. I watched the pilot a couple weeks ago and thought it had a really good premise. But, not for recapping or anything! Just a shame that it probably doesn't have a chance for renewal after that.

We'll see if The Event keeps its numbers in week 2...apparently the number of viewers went up in the 2nd half which is a good sign.

Kelly said...

"And then a bright light happens and the plane moves back in time to 1977 on the Island!" HILARIOUS!
it was ok... personally i think the show was overhyped, so i had higher expectations for it. that being said, i still enjoyed it and it was enough for me to watch it again next week. and while i really hated that they jumped around WAY too much (23 minutes earlier, 8 days earlier, 11 months earlier, ARGH!), i could still follow it without being confused. i like the character of Sean Walker, laughted about the truck keeping up with the plane, and wondered why the hell the SUV the president was in didn't LEAVE THE PREMISES! i mean, if a plane is coming towards you, you don't just sit there staring at it! i didn't expect the wormhole-y thing, when that happened i kinda had a "WTF" moment (not quite as "WTF" as lost used to give me, but it was enough). overall i'll see how it pans out. great recap as usual!
on another note, did anyone watch Hawaii 5-0 last night? i already knew that Daniel Day Kim and Grace Park were on it, which is why i watched it in the first place.. but James Marsters (BUFFY!!!)? Norman Reedus (Boondock Saints!)? YES!! it was like a whos-who of my favorite shows and movies! scott caan makes a great danno :) while it's not a mind-blowing show, it's fun to watch.. and it's fast-paced, which is a welcome change from certain other shows out there

Mike V. said...

@Kelly - glad you liked my reference! I think I actually kept my expectations pretty low. It was impossible to live up to expectations with all of the marketing NBC has done. (of course, it worked to get their ratings!) I was okay with the time jumps, but I agree...less would be better and as I responded to Stedman, I could see them slowing that down a bit when they focus on less storylines in later episodes. We'll see.

Good point about the president's vehicle not leaving....i guess by that time we're meant to think it was too late. Plus...that WIND stuff was going on...didn't seem like we saw it the first time around, but the 2nd time around everything was blowing around and everyone was freaking out...maybe they lost track of what they were doing or something?? I dunno lol

I was already starting the recap during H50 but I did catch a few minutes and it's on my tivo. It looked entertaining! I'm planning to check it out at some point!

Dreamz said...

Hey Mike,

To begin with, I must sincerely thank you for the fantastic job you did on LOST. A lot of interest in the LOST was also because of your relentless commentary and great discussions.

I am hoping this will continue with The Event. Although i haven't seen the episode or even read about it in detail but, the fact that you've chosen the show to include it in your blog, gives me hope it'll be great.

I am going to watch it regularly now...thanks a lot and keep up the good work !!!!

Regards

Mike V. said...

@Dreamz - You're totally welcome for the LOST blog! I'm so glad that it generated additional interest in the show for you. I'm going to try my best with The Event! The pilot ep definitely showed a lot of promise, so I'm planning to stick with it. But I don't want to mislead you into thinking the show will be great just because I'm writing about it! lol That's the hope we all have, but that's all it is right now. HOPE! One show that I know is already great is Fringe and I can't wait for that premiere on Thursday! (recapping that as well)

Enjoy the pilot episode of The Event!

Leslie said...

"And then a bright light happens and the plane moves back in time to 1977 on the Island!"
Can I just say . . . Ahh, good times! Glad you're back, Mike! Let's just say that comparing any new show to LOST just isn't fair. In my opinion, the bar was set too high. But, I can also say, if I had made a snap judgment based on the first episode of LOST, I may not have continued watching and would have missed out on all that fun! I think The Event showed potential, and I'm gonna keep watching and reading this blog to see where it takes us.

Mike V. said...

Well, my little LOST joke that could is really resonating lol Thanks guys! :-)

@Leslie - Thanks for the kind words. And totally agree, there is no way to compare such a young show to the legacy of LOST. I would also agree that while I now LOVE the pilot of LOST, I could have taken it or left it at that point...it was over time in that first season when I grew obsessed with the show. It was Locke in a wheelchair, it was Claire and the Psychic and Ethan kidnapping them, Charlie hanging from the vines......It was those little things that had me going back to the first episode to rewatch everything over and over again. THE EVENT is merely planting seeds right now that might pay off in future episodes. Definitely impossible to judge after one episode.

But I'm excited to see where they go with it!

synchrobrarian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AUStarwars said...

So far...eh...

I didnt like the fact that it forced Flashbacks onto us in such a "Lost" way, but this time it just wasnt done well at all..it spent too much time explaining things about the "everyman hero" that we are supposed to believe was now able to get a gun aboard a plane (which is one of the "mini mysteries," like of the Hurley Bird and Food drop variety) and somehow is a potential foil to this entire master scheme..when we know nothing about him other than they captured his soon to be fiance..like why do we care?

I mean obviously you know me as the "plot vs. character development" type of guy, but when we have the President of the United States as one character and "dude and his GF on the beach"..i mean arent you leaning towards the outcome of one plot vs. another?

I dont know, so far the Sci Fi elements are all that is intriguing, and seems extremely X-Filesish at this point...the whole "the VP is at odds with the President" feels too Flash Forward to me (not that im complaining about FF)...and there were just too many Independence Day type scenarios ("plausible deniability")

i guess i'll try it cause i can still watch MNF and DVR it, but so far, it just seems to be trying to hard..

AUStarwars said...

ok this was funny:

INTERESTING FACTS:

* Sean was addicted to World of Warcraft until Leila made him give it up.
* A big Stephen King lover, he has read "The Stand" seven times.

Mike V. said...

AUStarWars - Points well taken. Let me take you back on a trip to 9/22/2004 (happy 815 crash day by the way!!). We thought LOST was going to be a hybrid of Survivor meets Gilligan's Island. Or at least I did. THE MONSTER? We thought it was a dinosaur!

My point? Yeah, it's 1 hour of a TV show...it's going to resemble stuff we've seen before (Independence Day, and whatever else you can come up with)....but it's only 1 hour. I am hearing rumors that episode 2 is better than the pilot. We have to give this one time to grow.

BTW...I saw the Warcraft and Stephen King stuff on Jensen's recap...but was it in the episode or on the Event website or something?

BTW part 2 - The gun on the plane...I'm guessing it has something to do with the bag he had stashed in the airplane bathroom. Kinda like we wondered why charlie was in the bathroom of the plane in hour 1 and then we got a flashback to what he was doing in there in hour 2 of LOST.

Yeah...the flashbacks aren't as good as LOST...but I think they intentionally are trying to provide them in a different fashion...and I think they'll improve at it over the course of the show. (or I hope they will lol)

Man, for saying I'm not going to defend the show so early...I'm really going out of my way to do it! LOL

AUStarwars said...

on the NBC.com page for the Event there are character profiles that are mostly blanked out (they are supposed to be like CIA Files)

Personally I do not think the "prisoners" are the Aliens themselves..they are like Project Paperclip, the program that the US Government "comendeered" Nazi Scientists to work for them in developing new technologies..this time (just like in X-Files..) it is alien technology from Roswell, or whatever...

thats how i see it shaking up, unless of course the prisoners themselves are not Aliens/Time Travelers/From another Dimension

like i said, the show just tried to hard to have us care about these characters where it makes no sense that we should care about them...in Lost we had no reason to like one character over another in the beginning (in fairness, i hated Sun/Jin and Kate from moment one...ok well maybe not the beach bathing scene, but stil..), and then in the end we all loved Sawyer and Locke, people who we waited a few eps. to care about..but this is shoving it down our throats about a seemingly minor character (albeit her father is clearly involved) and his GF..though i think she is CIA also..

MJ said...

They are already saying that there will be quite a few answers given to us on episode 2 so I'm psyched. I also thought that 'they' couold be scientists from foreign countries that we commandeered ! Or we have snatched them from the future. LOL

Mike V. said...

Not giving up on the time travel eh!? lol I do like the "people from the future" idea. So I'm not ready to give up on it either! Nice about answers in episode 2...I guess they don't want to scare anyone away too quickly so they want to provide some answers right away lol

AuStarwars - Good point on us not having to like characters in the beginning of LOST. IN fact, some characters we initially thought we were supposed to hate we grew to love once we got their backstories. The Event is definitely a different show with different goals. I still think that it's too tough to judge a show based on 1 hour.

Looking back at LOST...those 2 hours were legendary. But upon first viewing...I don't remember thinking that this was going to be the greatest show I ever watched! Our love for the Pilot reflects all of the progress the show made for the 6 years following.

Not even sure what my point is anymore!

Anonymous said...

Does someone know how many episodes they have produced?

I went to the Event website and checked out the bios with blanked out areas. It helped identify how they would interact with each other among other things.

I guess I am coming to realize that there won't be another TV show like LOST. Mike is right, a lot of money/cost that companies don't have any more. So that leaves me with the idea that this and other shows have new operational paradigms which will result in shows of associated quality. With that in mind, this show could well be the best of the current crop, but definitely too early to tell. However, I do like Madmen, but that show doesn't require the production expenses of a show like The Event.

There is obviously some very advanced technology in play. At one point, I wasn't sure if the Event was going to be about a natural phenomenon which would require unusual capabilities to defeat or deal with. But, after seeing that plane disappear in what appears to be in a controlled manner, we are obviously dealing with "people" of very advanced technology. And for some reason those "people" didn't want the people on the plane and/or the people on the ground killed.

It seems apparent Vicki and her boyfriend are a part of the plot to get Leila AND leave our hero behind. Which is a head scratcher in a way. Why leave Sean behind to stir up trouble when they obviously have a lot of assets to deal with him directly? Is he now "taken" to the same location as Leila?

Richard

Mike V. said...

Richard,

Based on IMDB, which usually is on top of things, it looks like they are working on episode 8 right now. I'm sure they have an order for 13 and will soon get a pickup for a full season. Nice on the Event website, I'll have to check that out when I get a chance.

Yeah, even Damon and Carlton (and I believe the producers of 24) all said that there will never be shows like that again on TV. At least network TV. One step further, both LOST and 24 were filmed on actual FILM as opposed to digital or something. So it gave it a bit more of a cinematic feel to the show. Oh yeah...totally agreed on Mad Men being a high quality show but on a much lower budget. Best bet for a big budget show? Pay cable....just look at the quality of Boardwalk Empire and The Pacific on HBO. They're not afraid to spend a little money to make money there!

People of advanced technology is cool with me. Of couse...at one point I think we believed that all mysteries of LOST would be scientifically explained (of course...the producers LED us to believe that). Good point that the "people" didn't want anyone killed. I'm intrigued to see where it's going to go!

Good questions on Vicki and boyfriend's motives. You're right, it doesn't really make much sense. Unless it was all part of their plan for something larger! I guess answers are coming quicker than we think!

Mike V. said...

whoops...i meant an order of 12 not 13...there goes me thinking about Cable shows again! :-)
(well and Chuck's 4th season order)

Mike V. said...

So I was listening to an EVENT podcast this morning (yeah, I'm addicted to TV podcasts for my commute lol) and they had some pretty decent theories going that I hadn't thought of. I don't think my attention to details is 100% tuned in to the new show yet lol

Anyway first of all apparently the file on the detainees indicated that they had been detained since 1944 (aka..during WWII) One theory that these folks had is that the EVENT may have already happened. Hmmmmm Not sure where they would go with that but it's interesting!

The other theory was that maybe Leila is in cahoots with Vicki and Arm Cast guy. She did give that interesting glance to Vicki when she was on the phone with her Dad as well.

Anyway...just stuff to think about as we head into tonight!

AUStarwars said...

WWII...operation Paperclip..told you ;-)

Mike V. said...

AUStarwars, you could be onto something!

Unknown said...

I’d be lying if I said I loved this show from the very first episode, but The Event has really grown on me. It’s intriguing and subtle. I just finished catching up with it online at http://beta.dishonline.com/shows/318283-the_event/videos/849925-cut_off_the_head because I missed it when it aired. A benefit to being a DISH Network customer and employee is that I can watch thousands of titles for free at www.dishonline.com although even non-DISH customers should check it out, there’s a lot of programming available free for anyone to enjoy.

Dansbak said...

My wife and I really like the look of Leila Buchanan's house (or her parent's house) in “The Event”. Could anyone tell us more about this house? Where is it located? We are looking at building a house and we would like to see if we are interested in building this house.

Unknown said...

Hh