- STUFF HAPPENS: Jason Ritten stars as Sean Walker in this whirlwind of a show. (Image courtesy of about.com)
Nishok Chetty
Staff Writer
Remember the first season of “Heroes” — the fast paced race to nowhere? It’s back, and once again, it’s perfect. I don’t know what road “The Event” will take, but I’m in for the ride.
The entire show revolves around a huge orchestrated event that is made up of numerous pieces. The glue that holds the haphazard story together is the presence of aliens. The web of deceit, surrounding the event, is woven by the leader of the extraterrestrials (Laura Innes). It is focused around an ordinary man (Jason Ritten) whose girlfriend (Sarah Roemer) is kidnapped by an unknown third party. Each episode is filled with twists and turns. The lead detective investigating the aliens is actually extraterrestrial himself.
The convoluted story is told from various perspectives and in many different times. Within the first three minutes of the premiere, there were three jumps in time. The plot is complicated and filled with many characters with seemingly no relationship to one another. As a result, the plot is fun to follow, but the characters are one dimensional and flat. Each character has a full seven minutes of face time per episode. Hopefully, with enough flashbacks, the characters will become people.
The main concern, however, is that the show incorporates aliens. I fear that the scenarios are able to secede reality and that the event, the ultimate conclusion to the madness, can be anything. There are no limits, meaning that the conclusion can be as ridiculous as it needs to be. The end seems gearing towards a “Lost”-esque ending.
It is reminiscent of “24” as the plot is in constant progression and no episodes are wasted in divulging pointless tangent stories. There is also a hint of “Lost,” as the back stories are portrayed in almost exact fashion. As in the beginning of “Lost,” the flashbacks all pertain to the actual crash and move progressively towards character development.
The reason I will be glued to the couch every Monday night is The Event is unique. It tells its story in bits and pieces and forces the viewer to think. It seems common sense to sacrifice “Dancing With the Stars” and “Gossip Girl” for “The Event.” (Mon, 9pm, NBC)
To contact this writer, e-mail: nchetty@thesamohi.com