PILOT REVIEW: Emergence

EMERGENCE

Starring: Allison Tolman, Alexa Swinton, Owain Yeoman, Ashley Aufderheide, Robert Bailey Jr., Zabryna Guevara, with Donald Faison and Clancy Brown

Created by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters
Written by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, Directed by Paul McGuigan

A few weeks ago, ABC released the first nine minutes of Emergence. I chose not to watch it at the time and to instead just wait until I could watch the whole pilot. After watching the entire pilot, I have to say I wish I had only watched the first nine minutes. Those nine minutes were at least a little bit intriguing. The rest of the pilot was a bore.

Emergence is the latest attempt to recreate the magic of Lost with a high concept show that is part sci-fi, part conspiracy thriller, part emotional drama. Most recently seen with Manifest, the TV landscape is littered with shows like this since the 2004 launch of Lost: Invasion, The Event, The Nine, The River. Just to name a few. A few of them had big premieres that fell quickly. Very few of those shows ever saw a second season (Manifest actually beat the odds in that respect). I never watched Lost, but I know a good amount about it, enough to know that Emergence is just another show not capable of getting lightning to strike the same bottle.

It's a shame because this show is a waste of the talent that is Allison Tolman. Delightful in the first season of Fargo and the quirky sitcom Downward Dog, Tolman, playing police chief Jo Evans here, just seems to be an actor in search of the right vehicle because she has a likable, down to earth personality and comes across well on screen. Her scene with the little girl's (Alexa Swinton) fake parents was pretty strong. But, this is not her breakout show. It's also a waste of Donald Faison, playing Jo's ex-husband Alex, in his first regular network show since Scrubs.

I watched the entire pilot and while I admit, my attention was fading as it went on, I felt like it just never went anywhere after its opening. Ok, we get it, there's something off with that little girl (Alexa Swinton) and that some mysterious people are trying to get her back. One thing that these types of shows usually do well is end the pilot with an interesting twist that will keep the audience coming back after its high concept pilot. That's usually enough for me to come back and then I end up being disappointed and drop the show a few weeks later (I think the ONLY show like this I've ever watched all the way through was the one season of The Event). But, the end of Emergence did nothing for me. So I might even go so far as to say this is one of the worst Lost knockoffs yet.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Nope. As I mentioned, it was one of the few that couldn't pull me back in with its pilot ending so I have no interest in a second episode.