Dead on arrival
Based on the crime thriller novel ‘The Reincarnationist’ by M.J. Rose, the new Fox television show ‘Past Life’ follows Dr. Kate McGinn (Kelli Giddish), a psychologist who tries to help clients deal with past life traumas, in an unsuccessful attempt at making the next best TV drama.
The pilot episode showcases the talents of McGinn as she tries to figure out why her client Noah is having signs of regression but as another person. McGinn and her partner, fired New York City Police Department Detective Price Whatley (Nicholas Bishop), work together try and solve the mystery that ties into his problem – the abduction of a girl named Rebecca 15 years earlier.
The show aired right after ‘American Idol,’ so the first episode inevitably got the pour-over audience. But to keep stable viewers, the show needs more passionate actors and a better writing team.
It also doesn’t help that the show is airing in the toughest timeslot on television, Thursdays at 9 p.m., when Americans can tune in to better shows like ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘The Office’ and ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ on other networks.
With all procedural dramas, the case is solved and the mystery around the patient resolved. But waiting for the resolution is the most painful part.
The lead actors are at fault because throughout the episode they look like they don’t care about what is going on. McGinn speaks in a monotone voice while working on her case and has the same bland, uncaring and bewildered look during the whole episode. She remains emotionless, without showing the slightest bit of excitement when she finally gets down to what is causing Noah’s regression.
Whatley appears just as lifeless and unexcited as McGinn, not even cracking a smile when he tells the parents of the young girl that there is a chance she is still alive.
Despite the fact that the series was created by David Hudgins, who wrote numerous episodes of the fantastically written shows ‘Friday Night Lights’ and ‘Everwood,’ the dialogue doesn’t keep up with the rest of his résumé. Even if the actors can’t deliver the material sufficiently, they should at least have better material to work with because Hudgins’ name is attached to the show.
The final nail in the coffin is the lack of explanation at the end of Noah’s regression, which actually relates to the abduction of the young girl, Rebecca. The audience experiences the twist and turns of his anguish, feeling how Noah deals with his problems. Still, the audience doesn’t get the full explanation of Noah and Rebecca’s relationship to warrant Noah’s symptoms.
Though Fox executives must have considered ‘Past Life’ to be a show that could keep up with some of the best on TV, it turns out it’s just a weak new offering amid the aging procedural genre.
Published on February 14, 2010 at 12:00 pm
