‘The Event’

Mondays at 9:00 p.m.

NBC

 

 

If you like aliens, disappearing planes and government conspiracies, check out a few episodes of ‘The Event.’ It might amuse you. But rest assured: The next round of new television series will most likely bring another alien TV show, if this one doesn’t do it for you.

 

Two weeks into the program, ‘The Event’ features multiple storylines revolving around some almost-human extraterrestrials. (They look and sound like us and share 99 percent of our DNA, but they don’t age.) So far, the American public remains blissfully ignorant of their existence. President of the United States Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood) struggles with the decision to announce the aliens’ existence, forcing the U.S. to release aliens captured 66 years ago. Several sinister forces, including CIA henchman Blake Sterling (Zeljko Ivanek), conspire to keep the aliens locked up and to control Martinez. While an everyday man, Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), finds himself clueless and smack dab in the middle of the whole mess.

 

The show, at its core, is nothing but pulp fun. It features a plot that kept us coming back for at least two episodes. But the editing needs work, the characters lack depth, and this ’24’ meets ‘Invasion’ hybrid feels familiar — maybe too familiar.

 

The plot’s strength revolves around the startling revelations each episode produces. In the first episode, we saw a hijacked plane headed for the presidential compound, and then a mass of green electricity enveloped the plane as it disappeared from the sky.

But the best twists came in the second episode. We discovered the aliens exist in everyday society and have successfully infiltrated several layers of the U.S. government. Plus, the free aliens want the captive aliens released.

‘We’re tired of waiting,’ said a free alien leader in the second episode. Foreboding much?

So, yes, the show provided enough twists and turns to warrant two weeks of viewing. But the editing looks thrown together, like the network executives forgot to pay attention to that part of the show in the development stage.

‘The Event’ tries to take a page from the playbook of successful former TV drama ‘Lost’ by telling a portion of its story through flashbacks. Somehow, this story element got lost in translation. In ‘Lost,’ each flashback was self-contained; it took place over a very specific amount of time. But in ‘The Event,’ the show flashes back to numerous times and locations. It actually needs text on the screen (phrases like ’13 days earlier’) to help navigate the timeline. In essence, the show too frequently serves us a jumbled mess.

 

To make matters worse, Triscuits have more depth than the characters, each one functioning only as an archetype. Take Martinez, the strong but conflicted president. His scenes revolve around him standing over desks in a sulk or berating staff members for failing to keep him informed of national security secrets. We saw this same character in ’24,’ with President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). Then there is Walker, the man who gets caught up in the mayhem just to save his girlfriend. Walker likes to run — a lot — and that’s all he seems to accomplish in the first two episodes. He runs to get away from the aliens. He runs to escape the U.S. government agents pursuing him.

 

‘The Event’ is fun, but nothing special. But just because aliens as subject matter produce a drama most viewers like, who knows if the show will find enough success to last. It is reminiscent of ‘Invasion,’ another aliens-might-take-over-the-world show — a program with greater inherent potential than ‘The Event.’ And ‘Invasion’ only made it through one season.

 

Five Favorite TV Aliens

1. Kang and Kodos from ‘The Simpsons’

The drooling, encased-in-glass aliens always signal a good episode from the venerable series. Plus their appearances in ‘Treehouses of Horror’ are fantastic.

2. Spock from ‘Star Trek’

Known for his commitment to logic and bizarre mating rituals, Spock served as Captain Kirk’s right-hand man (or Vulcan?). He managed to save the day more than Kirk, earning him the respect and adoration of countless Federation members.

3. Superman from ‘Smallville’

The man of steel saves humanity from the likes of Lex Luthor and the rest, but don’t forget this hero wasn’t born any near Metropolis. Lucky for us, the Kryptonians draw their power from our sun.

4. Caprica 6 from ‘Battlestar Galactica’

As the hottest alien on our list, Caprica 6 also receives points for her evil nature. As the Cylon responsible for the near extermination of the human race, the best rule for dealing with Caprica 6: See with your eyes, not your hands.

5. Mork from ‘Mork and Mindy’

In the role that supercharged Robin Williams’ career, Mork from Ork came to Earth to report back to his superiors in the wacked-out ‘80s comedy.

adbrow03@syr.edu

 

Published on October 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm