Article first published as TOUCH Season 2 Premiere Review on Seat42F.
Grade: 87%
TOUCH airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter.
Grade: 87%
FOX’s TOUCH returns this Friday with two
new hours. When last we see Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland), he is in
California, led there by Jake’s (David Mazouz) number trail. He
encounters Lucy Robbins (Maria Bello, who guest starred in last spring’s
finale), whose own daughter, Amelia (Saxon Sharbino, I Spit on Your
Grave), is kidnapped after touting the same sequence as Jake. Now,
teamed up, they must find Amelia and stop the dastardly corporation,
Aster Corps, who will use the numbers for evil, rather than good.
TOUCH has undergone a major cast
overhaul heading into season two, ditching social worker Clea Hopkins
(Gugu Mbatha-Raw), left behind in New York when the Bohms head to the
West Coast, and adding four new stars, including Lucy and Amelia. For
some shows, a drastic change like this would be startling. However, in
TOUCH, it seems a natural part of the growth of the story. The series
follows Martin and Jake, and when they move to the opposite end of the
country, they will necessarily be surrounded by different people.
It makes sense, too, then, that many of
the recurring players of the first season are not in evidence in these
initial two hours back. Some, like Randall Meade (Titus Welliver), seem
to have already run their course, while others, like the Asian girls,
are simply gone. It won’t be too disappointing if many season one
players don’t come back, as the story has moved into the next phase, and
so, too, must the people in it. However, the pattern is often
illustrated as a spiral, so TOUCH may eventually circle back around to
them.
I really like the changes TOUCH has
made. Whereas season one seemed a little wandering, a little unfocused,
playing a bit with mythology, but also presenting a lot of seemingly
stand-alone stories, season two tightens up the plot. Now, there is a
singular enemy, and all of the various characters in the show are
involved in one situation. It helps to focus, and while there are still
plenty of coincidences and patterns, they are usually guiding towards
something specific.
As the first episode back, “Event
Horizon,” begins, Jake narrates, telling viewers that his lack of speech
is about to change. He doesn’t utter a word out loud in these two
hours, so it seems a little odd to start this way. Does he just mean
that he will begin communicating more clearly, though utilizing the
tools he already has, or does he mean that he will start talking? Others
like him, including Amelia, have no problem with vocalization. Why does
Jake stay silent?
The dynamic between Jake and Martin is
already being shaken by the inclusion of Lucy with them. Amelia does
provide a handy way for Martin’s time to be freed up, leaving his son
with Lucy. But she’s not just a babysitter, with the action following
her, as well as Martin. I am very curious how things may change even
more when they find and rescue Amelia, which seems a foregone
conclusion. TOUCH isn’t nearly dark enough to kill a child viewers are
made to care about.
TOUCH places Amelia in the most unlikely
place. She is staying with someone we think of as a good guy, based on
the story laid out in “Event Horizon” and the second part, “Closer.” I
won’t spoil where she is, but suffice it to say, it’s unexpected. In
keeping with what the show does best, TOUCH sets up some storylines in
the first two hours, but only gives viewers a taste of what’s to come,
leaving many unanswered questions.
Unanswered questions hover over the
other two main characters quite thickly. The first, Calvin Norburg
(Lukas Haas, Inception), is the brain behind Aster Corps’ recent
activities, but he is feeling bad about what they plan on using his
ideas for. He wants to save the world, and finds that hard to do in his
current position.
Calvin’s path already begins crossing
the rest of the cast quite quickly, being in L.A. at the same time they
are. I don’t know if we will join up with them or pursue his own path,
but he definitely will not remain outside of the circle. The question
is, will he have power to help them? And what insights might he offer
into what is going on?
Lastly, TOUCH has added a true face of
evil in Guillermo Ortiz (Said Taghmaoui, Lost). Ortiz is traveling the
globe, slaughtering people who know about the number sequence. We don’t
yet know what his motivation is, though there are hints in his physical
appearance, nor do we know what his end game might be. However, it does
seem like his negative emotions about what he’s doing, which are
present, are not enough to sway him off the course, so he could end up
being quite a danger to the protagonists, since he cannot be reasoned
with or moved by sympathy.
All in all, TOUCH’s season two ups the
ante and makes the latest installments more exciting by shrinking the
world in which this tale unfolds. I am curious as to if this is a trend
that will continue more and more as the show goes on, spiraling towards
an impressive climax. At least, that’s what it appears should happen at
this point.
Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.