PILOT REVIEW: Zoo

ZOO

Starring: James Wolk, Kristen Connolly, Nonso Anozie, Nora Arnzeder, and Billy Burke

Based on the Book by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Developed by Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg
Teleplay by Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, & Scott Rosenberg, Directed by Brad Anderson

Zoo is a new thriller drama based on the James Patterson/Michael Ledwidge novel of the same name. The show centers on twin attacks from lions who are beginning to coordinate together. The first is in Africa where zoologist Jackson Oz (James Wolk) gets a front row seat of lion attacks alongside his partner, Abraham Kenyatta (Nonso Anozie) and a woman he meets during the attack, Chloe Tousignant (Nora Arnzeder). Meanwhile in Los Angeles, two lions escape from the zoo, killing their zookeeper and two men in the city. A journalist, Jamie Campbell (Kristen Connolly) is suspicious of the new food the lions have been fed and is consulting with an animal pathologist, Mitch Morgan (Billy Burke).

This show started a little silly but had me intrigued by the end. I've never read the book so I don't really know where it was going but the initial narration along the lines of "what if animals ruled the world" made me laugh. But then the story got going and I was interested in both the African storyline and the Los Angeles storyline, which I'm sure will intersect sooner rather than later. I thought the performances ranged from serviceable to good. I've enjoyed James Wolk in everything he's been in including the failed Lone Star and The Crazy Ones. He seems destined for a hit show at some point though I'm not sure this is it. Kristen Connolly was good too and I was actually a bit more intrigued by the Los Angeles story than the African one.

In the summer of Jurassic World, this was another entry in the "terrifying animals taking over" category but it does it fairly well by TV show standards. Something about zoo attacks seems almost scarier to me than something more unrealistic like Jurassic. There have been several summer shows this year that have interested me enough during the pilot but I haven't been able to stick with (Wayward Pines, The Whispers, Aquarius). I feel the same about this one so episode two will go a long way to determine if I stick around to see what happens.