This is apparently showing on Sky One in the UK now (started yesterday I think) and having seen the trailer and been at least a little interested I'm going to give it a go.
Premise seems to be an alien who crash lands (?) on earth in the US and using his shape-shifting abilities, hides himself out in a remote forested area (I have no idea where) where he attempts to blend in with the local, but distanced, community.
This is one that may play out to be good viewing or could fall flat, but the trailer is worth checking out if you haven't seen it, and the show might turn up trumps.
I'll report back after an episode or two.
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
Okay, I saw the pilot episode yesterday and while it was fairly okay viewing I can't say I was blown away. The premise is interesting, the execution passable and there are elements that may bring me back for round two - just about. I don't think that the makers have any illusions about what they are doing here - it has no pretentions to be world shattering TV - and in an odd way this might just be its saving grace.
Without giving too much away, there is an ambiguity about the story of the alien in our midst, that lends the tale an interest that it would otherwise lack. Is he the good alien of Contact or Close Encounters, or are we talking Predator here? The program, by its end, had begun to play this dichotomy in a pretty pleasing way, sufficient for me to at least be passingly interested in where it is going. It's well acted enough - nothing in there to stretch the talents of even a moderately good practitioner of the art - and the characters are engaging enough as far as they go. The alien is pretty much as you'd expect an alien to be portrayed and much (as would again be expected) is made of his often goofy attempts to fit into the community he has fallen into. The questions as to why he is here at all, what was he doing, are just beginning to be explored, the bulk of the first program having been taken up with his arrival, insertion into the community and the relationships he is developing. There is comedy (this is a comedy after all) and there is tenderness....... and after writing this review I find myself thinking "Yes - perhaps I like this after all".
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
The tropes of "an alien lands on Earth and manages to look like a human to fit in" and "an alien lands on Earth and is here for some trophy hunting" are old and tired. Nonterrestrial beings who show up here in large numbers are here to conquer/pillage but a single alien who lands here is going to be absolutely terrified--alone, on a strange planet, with probably no chance of help from home showing up any time soon? Why doesn't a show ever explore that plot idea?
Well in an odd way this one does Hashi. Your 'man' talks over us, telling us bits and pieces of his story, and while not exactly terrified (because he considers himself to be pretty way above the best opposition in the intelligence stakes) he's definitely out of sorts. And there is an aspect of this, sort of complicating things that I'm not going to spoil, but is definitely a new take (if it is going where it appears to be). Sure, it's not going to win any Oscars and it's pretty predictable, but it's clean, light viewing - and in these troubled times anything that is far removed from what is going on is a boon!
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.
....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'
Although we're not clear on the motivations the plot does run along similar lines as The Day the Earth Stood Still with a little Starman mixed in. Maybe a little of the off beat Alien humor of People of Earth. Third Rock from the Sun, Coneheads...yeah this is definitely familiar ground but one episode isn't enough for me to drop it. Maybe there are some interesting twists forthcoming.
"If you can't tell the difference, what difference does it make?"
