The Event

Does anyone know what this show is about? I admit the Promos look interesting, but I can't find a decent synopsis anywhere.

My guess is that this is something like The 4400. Superpowered people locked in a Prison.

It had better be something besides aliens or super-heroes. And I have a feeling it isn't.

I have a feeling Richard is right. At least one of the promos made me think alien. I hope that they do something different. First off-the-wall thought in my head was the Lost Legion, or maybe Roanoke, or maybe Atlantis. All wild theories.

Watched the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes. Have no clue what's going on and none of the characters grabbed me.

Yeah, they got me at least until next week.

Although that was some sorry ass Secret Service protection. Godzilla could have been rising up out of the water, they'd've had that door shut and that car moving. And even when everything was clear, the President would have been the hell out of there.

More interesting than fast forward, though I am worried by how many times the show is going to do a "x days ago".

Also alot still needs to be stated about past events (why was the family targeted and how did the son in law know what was about to happen on the plane).

Just for the record, do some planes have those locking mechanisms or was that just a made up on the plot device so the characters couldn't enter the cabin?

After 9/11, all planes had the locking devices installed. So when you fly, the pilots are completely locked in.

I agree that there was enough there to get me to come back next week.

For better or worse, I get an alien vibe from the prisoners myself.

I imagine they targeted that family because the dad was a pilot.

Definitely right about that Secret Service, Richard! lol

Yeah, that secret service stuff was terrible. And the airport security as well. How did the kid get the gun to the plane?

I dunno, i hated all the Hawaii stuff. THe only interesting sections were the prison stuff and the CIA director talking to the president.

I hated the flashbacks. But they have me until next week.

And yeah, the first order of business for President Martinez (a Black Hispanic President...way to go for the gold NBC) should be to fire those fools.

Oh man, is this a reimagining of ALIEN NATION, only with super powers and a conspiracy? I really hope it is.

Kind of reminds me of Traveler, with the unexplained conspiracy and mysteriously destroyed life for a young white dude. It's interesting, but I really hope the writers know what The Event is and what the prisoners actually are.

Well, I'm pretty sure that was flatly awful. No suspension of disbelief, poorly conceived scenarios, unbelievable character reactions, preposterous conspiracy paranoia, etc.

Can't wait for the show that's going to give us the first black lesbian President, of Jewish descent, who's converted to Catholicism.

And what's the deal with NBC's production values as of late? Were they shooting on minicams?

I'm betting on a "x hours ago" that actually explains the gun on the plane.

Also I didn't think the secret service was that terrible. It was typical everyone so stunned by what they are seeing they can't do anything that been in TV for years, its annoying but no worse than other security scenes in shows.

Three words: "Jerry Bruckheimer's Rubicon."

I enjoyed it for what it is, just like I enjoy The Rock for what it is. That said, I'm a sucker for Giant Shadowy Conspiracies.

I liked it well enough to stick around for the next couple of episodes. That being said, I hope they don't continue with the mangled flash-back structure of the pilot for the rest of the series.

I was kind of mostly bored for most of the show. It started to get a bit more interesting after the kid (not really a kid, but hey... can't remember the character's name) got back to find all traces of him and his girl wiped, and then it got REALLY interesting when the plane disappeared. The back and forth timeline stuff was actually sort of grating, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit interested to see where they're gonna go. I just hope it doesn't fizzle out in a hurry. New shows have it rough.

I thought it was fairly awful. These behind-the-scenes stuff with the president alone took me out of it.

Aide (the GREAT Zeljko Ivanek): "It was on a need to know basis."
President: "I'm president. I NEED to know!"

And it looked pretty shitty.

But I liked Jason Ritter. And the love interest from Fired Up! is in it!

It would have been a lot stronger if the show had started with the disappearing girlfriend and plane. Then start diving into the backstory. Still, the way they handled the plane did surprise me, and bought enough of my good will to tune in next week.

I didn't care for how it was handled (clunky flashbacks, inconsistent acting quality, and terrible special effects) but I must admit to being intrigued by the actual plot. I'll give it a couple more episodes to see how it develops before writing it off.

They wasted quite a bit of time on having to talk around the subject. They could have just said what the thing was instead of just using euphemisms, but no, that would spoil it for the audience.

So clunky.

Could be aliens, but I assume it's actually about the imminent end of the world (via asteroid or something) that's being kept secret. Could be like in the book EARTH where a micro singularity fell into the center of the earth and the planet has two years left

EDIT: That's just my guess, have not seen the pilot yet. I'll catch the show on DVD. My guess is based on the promos I've seen on MSNBC during TRMS

How does that tie in with the prisoners and super powers?

That was not in the promos I saw. The promos I've seen just say "THE EVENT!" and show a black President demanding to know the truth about something. I don't watch regular NBC so I may have missed a more extended peek at the show which revealed the elements you mentioned

So you're just going to make wild assumptions because you can't be assed to watch the show?

I was just doing what other people in the thread were doing earlier, tossing out my guess based on the promos. I wasn't trying to ruin your morning with my impertinent assumptions about the EVENT

That's a great typo in there, neo.

Given the multitude of flashbacks I'm thinking time travel is involved.

Also, what kind of guy leaves his sick fiancee-to-be and goes out with another chick?

Yeah, the way the plane vanished called to mind the book/movie Millennium.

Another wild theory came to mind during the pilot. Alternate universes. So it would be like Fringe/24 or something.

I was wondering about the plotting of the show. Will we catch up on all the scenes in the pilot in the next four episodes or so (getting a gun on the plane, how he knew it was Mike, and so on) or will it take all season just to make it to the president's party, or what?

I was underwhelmed. Needless time shifts to ratchet up "suspense" with no characters to care for or about. The promos had me tune-in, but the pilot has me tuning out. This is the "24" and "Lost" model being smashed together to make something new and exciting but instead is derivative and boring.

That would be death. I was getting tired of the flashbacks just within the hour. God help them if they drag it out all season.

That's pretty much what I was thinking too Richard, but I was wondering if it was possible to keep it compelling somehow. I mean, there had to be a ton of time between the president meeting the leader of who/whatever they are at the prison, and the time they were about to make an announcement of some sort at the party, right?

Well, I look at the slow fading death of Flash Forward, where the mystery just wasn't enough to sustain the show for a full season. I don't think a 23 episode tease leading up to what that flash was that teleported the plane is going to cut it.

Yeah, I get that. I watched FF until the end. Maybe that's why I was curious how long it will take to show all the events from the pilot.

Or maybe the flashbacks will continue, and they will advance the timeline along the way, but that really sounds like the formula for another recent show that ended.

I found the show confusing. Not in a "Wow, this has layers" kind of way. More of a "Other than a seemingly clever premise, we really don't know what the hell we're doing" kind of way. Come on, Makers of 24. Not every show needs to have some time gimmick you have to shoehorn into

14 HOURS AGO
Wow. Jason Ritter's facial hair really makes him look like a douche. Even Ethan Hawke circa Reality Bites thinks he looks like a pretentious

PRESENT
I thought all the scenes with the president were pretty hackneyed and over-the-top. Couldn't they at least consult with Aaron Sorkin or even Ivan Reitman

13 HOURS 20 MINUTES AGO
Hey, Asian Dean Cain! How are you going to stop a speeding 737 with your car? That is the stupidest thing I've seen since the make-up guy glued those pubes to Ritter's face and

46 MINUTES AGO
Wait, Kate is spouting off and hasn't even seen the pilot yet? I would like to hear her theories on how The Others got to the island. Maybe an alien spaceship

13 HOURS 50 MINUTES AGO
I hope this vacation takes a Turistas turn so I can have the satisfaction of seeing Ritter viscera all over the

13 HOURS 8 MINUTES AGO
Seriously, Secret Service. You got him in the car. Now close the damn door and drive away from the big plane about to crash into you! Even Asian Superman couldn't stop that plane with his car


PRESENT
What a stupid show.

totally killed any sort of narrative drive.

5 Seconds Earlier

Yeah, the flashbacks

Yeah, early on, at the rate they were going, I thought we were going to end up in 1957 or something.

They could of at least hired someone from Damages to give it some style and make the present with a blue tint or something.

No typo. I make up my own slang.

I really hope the flashbacks aren't used for the whole series. Even on THE GOOD GUYS it could get annoying.

Just terrible. Boring, confusing, unsympathetic characters, the works. And this was probably the most aggressively promoted network premiere of the season.

Maybe next week, they can do the episode in reverse, like that one Seinfeld episode.

The flashbacks were a bit disorienting, even for a Lost pro like me . But the repetition of scenes were making it more confusing as well. I'm all for interesting ways of telling a story, but they need to take it down a bit in future episodes. Also, hope we get more of the characters or suffer FlashForward's fate it will.

I also thought of the alternate universe thing as a possible answer for the prisoners. Not sure if aliens came across too obviously, or it's just my mindset. Maybe other dimensional beings as oppose to extraterrestrials?

Well, sadly, I don't have HBO, so it looks like I'll be posting here instead of the Boardwalk Empire thread.

Yeah, the arbitrary flashback structure was without pattern or theme, and only served the purpose of artificially creating tension. Still, I liked it enough to keep watching for now.

I'm also thinking time travel, but it's too early to speculate. If the show takes off and everyone starts guessing at the plot, the producers might actually change it in response to all the online talk, and that never ends well.

Bah, when has that ever happened?

Did anybody else get the impression that the first episode was trying to fit an entire season of plot and character development into one hour of stultifying exposition?

Yeah, this wasn't good. Jumping through flashbacks is never great but then also randomly throwing out names too before showing some random time period earlier? Also, they seemed to go out of their way to make him look like a hijacker which is just stupid. Did he think the guy wouldn't just lock the door if a guy with a gun starts making demands?

This show can't possibly last more than half a season.

Some of these types of shows seemed like the writers wanted to be so freaking clever and mysterious with their central mythology that they couldn't bother to write the episodes very well.