This show is so addictive! I don't really remember the movie. I saw it once, like, when it first came out on DVD or not long after, and I haven't seen it since, so I know the basic idea, but I also know it's not really like this. And I'm glad of that, because a closed-loop two hour movie is not really much like a twelve-hour ongoing series anyway, structurally.
There has been all of two episodes (three after tonight!), and in two days I watched both of them twice, and didn't even live blog, I was so engrossed.
There's so many of the things I love in a show:
- Good, strong, complex characters that are being uncovered a little at a time
- Really good chemistry. Like, really good. Like, I was shipping hard after one episode.
- A complex, multilayered story full of twists and fun and mysteries
- Postapocalypse contrasted sharply with Preapocalypse in a way that feels sort of Terminator-at-it's-best (and I think some of the same people work on both, which is encouraging because TCC was good, and scary because it got cancelled). It also gives me Continuum vibes, which is also good because that show is great.
- Time travel! I love a time travel show, and this one is cool because a) Cole doesn't much give a shit about the fact that he's time traveling, he just has a job to do, b) he uses Time Traveler Tense like "keep track of that, it'll save out asses again two minutes ago" and I love it, c) it makes sense, and d) it is happening out of order! And best of all, the nonlinearity seems to be planned out, unlike a certain British children's show I adore but is sort of a mess.
And it basically feels like all the mysteries they're setting up have a purpose and a plan, and that they've worked up the whole plot ahead of time. I know that Lost and XFiles also felt like they had it sorted, but I'm sort of a sucker for that sort of plot anyway, and the fact that it's twelve episodes instead of 22 gives me hope, because there's way less space for filler and wheel spinning.
I love that SyFy seems to be course-correcting back to actual science fiction television, and that they're getting on the intentionally-good-tv-drama bus. I love that they're running with this crazy twice-adapted idea and making it something new again. I love that all the characters are interesting, strange, not entirely trustworthy, and all have goals. I love that everyone is being challenged in their goals, their beliefs, their status quo. I love the atmosphere and the pacing and the locations.
I'm so impressed.
- How long before Ramse goes evil, since Kirk Acevedo's characters tend to do that?
- How long before someone makes out with someone else, and how awesome or weird will it be?
- how long before Evil Leapers show up and start interfering?
- How long before Cole starts cracking up from the physical and mental strain of this job?
- How long before a timeline has to be totally remade / destroyed / altered in a way other than their original plan?
- How long before they start meeting the younger versions of the few survivors they know in the future?
- How long before Cassie jumps to the future for any reason at all?
- How long before it's revealed that Cassie becomes Jones and that Jones set it up to allow a second chance but she still loves Cole???
Have you guys watched it yet? What do you think of it? Let's discuss!
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