Tuesday, September 28, 2010

No Ordinary Plane Crash

Note: This is a review for the first episode of No Ordinary Family. It contains spoilers. This is seperate from The Event posts.

How many shows are going to start with a plane crash?

No Ordinary Family premiered tonight. I must say.... Meh... It's ok.

The whole pilot episode felt very rushed. Not even two minutes into the episode our Ordinary Family are already in a anticlimactic plane crash. Of course they survive. There is no explanation on how they were rescued. Ten seconds later they are home and everyone is acting as if it never happened. Lame.

The show is corny, and only occasionally funny. With lines like: "Who are you texting now?"  "God!" - not being one of those times. The acting seems a little flat. I really like Julie Benz though, being a Dexter freak. The therapy storytelling aspect was pretty cool I thought. Added a cool narrative.  And who could not like bank robbers in Obama masks. EPIC!

The show front runner is Jim Powell, played by Micheal Chiklis. He is a sad man. He feels like he is slowly losing his family to work, puberty, and general lack of interest. He has a crappy job and wants better things. BAM! Plane crash and unexplained super powers! Him catching a bullet was pretty rad. My favorite part about Jim's story is when he is hanging out with his friend (sidekick) George the DA. It was fun watching him test out what he could do with his new found powers. So far we know that he can lift about 11,000 lbs., can catch bullets and such, and jump about a quarter of a mile in one "bound". But he is not invincible, which I like.

Then there is Jim's wife, Stephanie Powell. Played by the wonderful Julie Benz. She is a research scientist (AHEM.. not buying it) and a workaholic. She is always on the move and hardly has anytime for her family. Shes seems attached to her cellphone. Reminds me of Angelica's mom off Rugrats. She recently discovered a plant that can do all kinds of amazing things that may or may not be the source of the family's power. Her power is discovered while running late. BOOM! She hits mach speed down the freeway. The special effects for this scene were incredible! In in a life short on time, she suddenly found herself, fast. She also has a sort of sidekick. Some one she can hold her secret with. This would be her lab assistant Katie Andrews played by Autumn Reeser. Its a cool dynamic. I really enjoyed when she was timing her around the track. I don't understand how her clothing is still intact.

The teenage daughter Daphne Powell. Played by Kay Panabaker. She is a telepath. Sort of a drama queen to. It's seems as if she has just hit puberty, because all she concerned with is boys and having sex and not having sex. Ah... high school. Not much to say about the kids really because they were hardly in the episode. When she first discovers her powers she is playing a basketball game. The effects are really cool here to. As she is hearing someones thoughts, their face flashes with electricity and eyes glow. Neato.
Note: When Daphne hears peoples thoughts, there was no effects. That was on the original pilot they had online, they changed it.
The teenage son JJ Powell. Played by Jimmy Bennett. From what I gather, his power is vast intelligence. Which is very ironic, as he was just placed in a remedial program in school. He is pretty much just your average high school geek. At first he shows no sign of powers, so he is upset. I think he should have stayed with no powers personally.

The final conflict with the Obama bank robber was really cool. He can teleport like Nightcrawler from X-Men! Pretty nifty battle there. But how does he know about Jim? Don't tell me there was some boatload of evil people that sank in the same super water....

Jim has a secret lair with WIFI! teehee

Also not on the original pilot was the very end scene with Stephanie's boss and other sinister fellow looking at the Obama robbers corpse. Can you say bad guys?!
I am a big comic book geek. When there are super powers involved, origin is everything. Which was non-existent at the moment. There was mention of a "super plant" named Trisetum Coronis, that apparently can do anything. Let us hope they did not get their powers from a plant. Double lame.

The show is kinda rushed and corny. But, fact is it is family friendly, quirky, and interesting enough to make me curious about future episodes. It makes me feel like a little kid again. I think we should give this one a few more episodes to develop before we make a decision.

Grade: C
Effects: A

Reducto

Favorite Quote: "You two are freaky."

Not So Extra-Ordinary

Note: This is the first reaction post to No Ordinary Family. Not The Event. Just so there is no confusion here. And it will be spoiler-y, so hold off if you haven't seen it yet.

This is my second time watching the pilot of No Ordinary Family (it was on ABC.com back in August, I believe?) so I guess I have a slight advantage over the other bloggers.

First off, I really don't like this show. It feels like a forty-minute movie rather than a television episode (see how everything tied up so nicely at the end? And the 'Bad Guys' looking at the body? Just the cliff-hanger for the sequel; coming to theaters near you next summer!) and it definitely did not impress me during either of my watches. I felt like the acting was overdone or exaggerated in places and not fully realized in others. I feel like the script was hilarious, but the way the actors delivered the lines made it sound mundane and weak. The story doesn't seem to have much potential in my opinion - how far can you go on a family that has super powers? Debates on whose is cooler? What they are going to do next with them? How to get rid of them? I'm sure they can come up with some ideas, but I'm not sure how much they will be worth. And since we're all (or most of us) LOST fans, I feel like we want an intelligent program with lots of questions/mysteries. No Ordinary Family had exactly two: how they got their powers (answered) and who are the 'Bad Guys' after them (not answered)?

The one thing I really enjoyed was the effects used. The lighting in the water was incredible - it kind of looked like a scene out of Avatar - and the plane crash was excellently executed. When JJ saw the equation lighting up on the board, it really highlighted (Har, har) what was going on. Even the speed-running was awesome. The opening credits were really lame though - what credits last five seconds? - and the closing credits were nonexistent. Oh, well.

In a battle of No Ordinary Family vs The Event, I'm placing my money on the latter.

Rating: C-

QuoteGirl

Its A Miracle No One Was Hurt ..... Nevermind.

I wasn't so much disapointed, just thoroughly confused.

Man, can Sean catch a break?! He lost his girlfriend, couldn't finish his awesome cruise, was in a plane crash, and was arrested for a murder he did not commit. Quite a week he is having.

To be a little more organized, I am going to talk about the present - then the past - and then close it out with some theories.

The plane crash was pretty exciting. Couldn't help reminding me of another show... :) people screaming, crazy to get out. Fire. It was a bad one. This show really doesn't slow down! Before you know it a huge group of helicopters comes storming their way. At first I had a thought that it was the CIA, or the creepy bald dudes men coming to cover things up. Apparently not because it was Sophia's lover (Thomas if I am not mistaken) That sent the 'copters. How Sean got out of there unnoticed is amazing, I'm not going to question it. Too bad he didn't run the other direction, he would have hit a road quick.
That nurse was kind of mean to Sean, even before she thought he was a murderer. So now he is a fugitive for something he did not do. That really took me by suprise. I thought poor Sean already had enough on his plate. I agree, those cops were not using protocol. They just stormed in! Either it was unrealistic - or Arizona police suck. It's obvious that Sean gets away from those agents. I can't wait to see that play out.

I am really starting to like President Eli. I'd vote for him. His storyline this episode was very informative! When they mentioned electromagnatism I just had to smile. Seriously?! Electromagnatism causing a plane to crash? Never heard that one before. The Sophia interrogation was intense. I really feel for Eli. He was only trying to do the right thing. Now he looks like a fool. I'm suprised he is not more upset. I believe some of these "Others" (the ones who were not wounded and imprisoned) Have grown hostile over the past 66 years. They probably benefited from Sophia's command in the past. I am just going with my gut on this. Sophia is a good guy(lady).

Don't even get me started with Simon Lee. GEEZ! What are this guys intentions?! He is all over the place! He is now the head of creepy bald dudes task force. Also working for both sides of the Others. I say both sides because we've only met two of them, one good one not so nice. I really want the bald guy to find out about Simon. I want to see his reaction. In every show he is in he is a creep and I do not like him! Simon's story is the most confusing. I am not sure about him. When he went to talk to Thomas, he greeted Simon with "brother". Is he one of them? Is it just me or did Simon look the same age ten years earlier as he does today? He could be one of the able bodied Others to get away. And as for the huge area of dead bodies, I hope it was peaceful. Especially for Mike. I liked him! Now Leila has no parents. Where is her little sister?

Now for the past. Four day earlier. I knew it would have to be something really bad for Mr. B to do something as drastic as crash a plane into the President. Why didn't Mike shout out to his daughter 5 feet away?! I would. I was half right about the Vikki-Greg situation. I was right not to trust that lady! This is where I am confused. Who is Vikki working for? Enter mysterious creepy guy (MCG). He is in no way a good guy or ever will be. So what we know about him is: He means business, he is a murderer, and he is not a security guard. I don't think he is an "Other". Then who is he? Is he an alien to? QUESTIONS!

Very quickly I just wanted to say greg is a creep and I'm glad he is gone.

All that information got dropped on the president thirteen months earlier. Man, thats heavy. I know their DNA is 1% different and don't appear to age - but I still don't think they are aliens. Check my theory below.
And as for 1944. I am most curious as to how many "able bodied" Others got away. Where have they been?

When Sean meets Leila. That was sweet. He is such an awkward dork! I really enjoyed that segment.

Now for my theory. Its really out there. Hear me out.

I think "The Others" are time traveling evolved humans that are trying to prevent or cause the event to alter history (future). What do you think? Too much?

Random fun moment: Michelle Branch playing on the radio "10 years earlier"

Grade: B

Reducto

NOTE: Sorry its a little sloppy. I'll get used to blogging in this fashion.

Monday, September 27, 2010

I Want The TRUTH

Just going to say, I was severely disappointed in the second episode of The Event.

First off, I thought the special effects for the plane were horrible. Who seriously wants to waste three minutes of their lives alternating between a crashing plane and the frantic faces of the passengers? I'm cool with a couple shots, but it was way overdone and drawn out. The moments that were supposed to give the viewer, "Eww! That's disgusting! I'm getting nauseous!" reactions didn't really bother me. Maybe that was just me personally, but I thought the blood was really fake. Although I can't deny the coolness of the implanted plastic vein in Simon's arm. The Wormhole/Vortex technology still could be changed in my opinion, but looking back at the Smoke Monster... I suppose that looks normal. My biggest pet peeve about this episode was definitely the effects, so I'm done. Sorry if I offended you in anyway.

So what we actually learned... wow. It was a lot to process at times. The original theory of aliens proved true (or extra terrestrials, as Creepy Bald Dude called them) which was nice. It shows that the show is predictable enough to follow but still can surprise the viewer and that it gives answers quick. Unlike other television shows I could mention. We also got some of their alien's mythology - their DNA only differs from humans by less than 1%, they age at a slower pace than humans, they were first known on Earth on November 2nd, 1944 and that they have been held in captivity in Alaska ever since then. We also find out that Sophia (Redhead Chick) is one of them, as well as her lover who makes a cameo appearance later. I feel like we'll be seeing a lot more of him later. Like the President, I'm more concerned with how they got here, what they want and why all people from other planets have to say they don't mean humans any harm. Either that or they blow us all to hell with no warning. So know that we know that this show is extra-terrestrial, how does that affect the viewing experience? I'm constantly on edge for something weird to happen. Not that I wasn't before.

I have a feeling this is going to turn into a humanity and human nature debate as well with this program, so I might as well throw my cards in early. I admire the President. He says he wanted to declare peace with the aliens and let them live alongside us for reasons unknown to him. Hey, he's being honest with his potentially less-than-admirable motives. But it drags in the question, was it right holding them in Alaska? Should they be treated like prisoners? What is more important: the safety of the world from the possible harm from aliens or the proper and respectful treatment of people who may want to destroy everything? Things getting gray there. I hope we can really connect and sympathize with the characters and both sides. Because that's who I assume "Us" and "Them" are. And it will definitely be fascinating to watch Simon be a double agent. Let's see how long his secret lasts, okay? I'm betting he's getting busted by mid-season.

It was interesting seeing how Vicki was working with Them, but Greg wasn't. They totally had me fooled there. Leila still bothered me, but that's besides the point. How Sean connects to this story is still beyond my grasp, but if the answers keep flowing in as fast as they have, I don't think I'll be waiting long. Choosing to frame Sean for the deaths on the cruise ship was definitely ingenious, if not an interesting move. Was it the government? The Others (my new term for the aliens)? Was it both? And what was with those cops at the hospital? Was it the first day on the job, or do they generally pull up in a manner that informs the entire building of their presence, run in packs, don't pull out their guns until the last moment, and let the person they're chasing out of their sight so fast? They got him in the end, but seriously. Anyone who watches cop/detective/spy/FBI/CIA shows knows that they work better than that. And was I the only one laughing at the awkward first-meeting in the pool? I don't think the actors who play Sean and Leila have chemistry at all. Or maybe they do, but the lines and situations they are thrown in make it look foolish. Done random ranting.

So here are the numbers for this week:
97 (prisoners), 4 (days), 13 (months), 7 (days), 66 (years), 5 (years), 11 (months), -15 (elevator), 10 (years)

Grade: B-

Spacey Theory: Leila's pregnant.

See you all later with No Ordinary Family on ABC at 8/7c.

QuoteGirl

EDIT: Coherency and clarity will be present next post.

Never Trust The Bald Creepy Dude.

Hello everyone! I'm Reducto. I am new around here, but was an avid follower of the original "You Blog Everybody!". I really appreciate you guys letting me be a contributor. I have been a fan of the blog from the beginning, and I'm a huge fan of Swans music and other projects. So that being said, this is pretty cool for me.

I didn't know what to expect from The Event. It looked cool, but the previews were (for good reason) vague. It started off exciting. I REALLY wanted to know what everyone was freaking out about "23 minutes later". I am a huge fan of serialized dramas, and it was kinda feeling like 24. So far halfway through it was action packed, mysterious, and yes: full of pretty people. When Sean Walker came back from snorkling only to find his girlfriend missing - Thats when the intrigue started for me. Edge of my seat! When the plane got swallowed up by god knows what, I practically fell off the couch!

I didn't feel the need to do a full review of the pilot, because you ladies already had phenomenal posts. But there are a few things I'd like to mention:

1. The first time we see Sean Walker he had just been in the bathroom in the plane. Close up on something in the trash! Looks like clothing no? I wondered how he got on the plane with a gun. Maybe he impersonated a flight attendent?

2. I have an issue with Greg and Vikki. You know, the alcoholic hippies. It is my theory that there is foul play! Just spit ballin' here, but I think Vikki put something in Leila's drink so she was out for the count the next day. That leaves Sean and Vikki to go snorkling. I believe Mr. arm-in-the-cast was faking it, and was the one who abducted Leila. DUN DUN DUUUN!

3. The creepy bald dude is a great addition to the cast. He is in Heroes, True Blood, he plays juliet's ex husband in LOST... hehe he gets hit by a bus.

Looking forward to more "THE EVƎNT"

Grade: A

EDIT: I just want everyone to know, I'm ALL for the alien idea. But I have a false hope that Hurley got bored and lonley playing guardian of the island and teleported the plane there.... Or maybe a completely original idea we could never even think of!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

It's Totally Aliens

Hey guys. I should probably introduce myself (although most of you probably know me as "That annoying commenter who replied to everything on You Blog, Everybody!") but anyhow, I'm QuoteGirl. I don't have an awesome LOST name because I literally had no idea what to call myself. How's that for creativity?

The Event. Sounds so dramatic, doesn't it? And it was in a way (all that intense music accompanied by strange happenings). I found myself enjoying the pilot far more than I had hoped, which is always a good thing.

The characters seem pretty fascinating (especially the girl I christened Redhead Chick but IMBD calls her Sophia Maguire). I'm not too sure on these mysterious guys we keep seeing in the previews, but I'm willing to give them a chance. And Sean's girlfriend, Leila, who just seems to annoy me. It's early still and she's got plenty of time to redeem herself in my eyes (although I'm not entirely sure where she went wrong. Her personality just rubs off on me the wrong way maybe?). Sean and Simon seem like they need some de-stressing classes, but considering what a day they've had, de-stressing would be very beneficial. Perhaps taking up yoga?

It starts off in a plane, which is always a good sign. LOST, Fringe, my friend tells me NCIS and since it's had a billion seasons they must be doing something right... So it gets a point for planes. Remember when Swan said that she swore LOST was about aliens? Well, I'm going to put it out here right now: I think The Event is definitely not of this planet. They wouldn't have called it a mixture of FlashForward/V if there wasn't some extraterrestrial beings (or snakes hiding in human flesh) populating the cast. Let's just hope TE doesn't have as short of life as FlashForward. Unless of course they do something really bad or aliens looking like green lizard people a la V.

Old habits die hard and ever since The Numbers, I've taken to writing down new numbers as they appear. Numbers probably won't feature predominantly in TE but if they do, I've got it covered:

23 (minutes), 11 (days early), 514 (flight), 13 (months in Alaska), 8 (days early), 5314 (room number).

You never know when numbers could come in handy, right?

I'm not really sure what else to say, seeing as it's a pilot and still has plenty to go. I guess we can start to question who "Us" and "Them" are as well as what the heck the Event actually is. But unless you're a crazy theorist, I'm not sure what else to go on. Hopefully more "mysteries" will reveal themselves in time.

All in all, I like The Event. I think it has potential (especially if it clears up the Wormhole-looking technology) and I think it's got lots to answer and more to question.

Grade: A-

EDIT: I haven't read Pearl's post yet, so if any of this is repetitive, my bad.

Monday, September 20, 2010

I LOVE VORTEXES!

First things first, I would like to briefly introduce our new blogger: QuoteGirl. She frequented our previous blog with fantastic comments and we are happy to have her be a part of this project.

Now, let’s get down to business.

It is really challenging writing about the pilot of a show. It is even more challenging to write about a show that has been compared to other shows without automatically looking for the likenesses.

When they said “The Event” would appeal to “LOST” fans, they weren’t lying. I had to force myself not to compare it to “LOST”. I mean, you’ve got the plane, which involves people disappearing to Location X, and then, these flashbacks and lots and lots of mystery and number references and pretty people etc. See, I’m already doing it. Sigh. I am going to try and focus on the show itself and stop making it live in the shadow of my lost (ha!) love.

It’s nice to see Jason Ritter again. I used to be a huge "Joan of Arcadia" fan and thought he had more potential than his projects post its cancellation showed. Overall, the whole cast seems very promising. Nice mix of new faces and old-ish faces. I think the idea of a black president is a bit absurd, but you never know.


The time-frame captions started getting really confusing for me, personally. I started to just ignore them and piece it together myself. I am hoping that is not how the whole series is going to go, and that it’s just a Pilot thing. Every now and then is fine, but I was getting dizzy.

I got a little nauseous at the end, with the camera shaking so much, haha. Clearly, “Cloverfield” was a rough experience for me. I did not expect the plane to vanish into a vortex, which doing the unexpected makes for quality entertainment.

I know it won’t wind up applying to the entire show, but this Pilot was vaguely reminiscent of the film “The Net”, starring America’s Sweetheart Sandra Bullock. It won’t pan out the same, but the whole Sean-Walker-Ceasing-To-Exist thing brought it to mind. I honestly only ever watched the first episode of “24”, so I can’t really compare it to “24”, other than the time-frame captions. I tried to watch “V”, but…eh. I think I can see where the comparison comes in, but I think it is being executed in a more satisfactory way in “The Event”; if that’s even the case at all.

I am kind of hoping this turns out to be a really awesome alien show. It SEEMS like that could be the case, but the wonderful thing is that already nothing is what it seems AND WE ARE ONLY ONE EPISODE IN. I, personally, am very intrigued and cannot wait to watch the next episode.

Needless to say, I thought this was a pretty solid Pilot. The big question for this week, and perhaps for many weeks to come, is: Who are THEY? And, how did Sean Walker manage to get a gun on the plane?

Grade: A-

The Pearl

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Event

Hello Readers,

This is The Pearl writing to you. I just want to welcome you to "You Blog, Everybody II", the bastard child of "You Blog, Everybody!"

This blog currently is not dedicated to one TV show, hence the nondescript layout. However, within a few weeks, it will be. Hopefully. If we last that long. The contenders for the spot are:

The Event

No Ordinary Family

The Cape


We will simply decide by way of blogging and discussion which new Fall show is worth a blog dedication after a few episodes. After that, we will continue to discuss, criticize and theorize the winner until the end of (air)time.

I think The Swan will be joining forces with me. Tomorrow will tell. If not, I am on my lonesome unless someone following wants to take on the challenge. Wish me luck on this endeavor.

Cheers,
The Pearl