Take a Trip With BACKPACKERS

Article originally written for Seat42F.

The CW will soon premiere BACKPACKERS, a sitcom, which is extremely rare on the network known for angsty teen dramas often spiced with superheroes and the supernatural. BACKPACKERS tells the story of a young couple who decide to hit pause on their engagement as they sow their wild oats all over Europe. Quite quickly into the trip, one of the pair regrets this arrangement and immediately sets out to find his sweetheart before she can tarnish their love with meaningless sex, or, even worse, fall in love with a suave foreigner.

BACKPACKERS was originally intended to be a web series, and that shows, at least in the pilot. The twenty-plus minutes of programming is segmented into short, choppy bits that do tell a larger story, but feel very stand-alone in the moment. This makes for an awkward transition from internet to broadcast. I wish the writers had taken more time to smooth the transition between scenes, adding in some additional material so that it seems more cohesive.

It also feels very predictable. There have been a million road trip comedies at this point where guys try to find a girl, getting into trouble along the way. BACKPACKERS is yet another in that genre, and doesn’t really have anything to distinguish it from, say, the movies EuroTrip and Road Trip. We know bad things will happen, often with what are intended to be hilarious results, but the characters will stay relatively safe and probably have relations with natives far more attractive than they are. A few years past the large slate of movies along this theme, BACKPACKERS is extra stale because the cinema has moved on and, likely, so have most of the fans of the genre.

The characters themselves are common, flat types. Ryan (Noah Reid, Strange Days at Blake Hosley High) is the ‘nice’ guy who loves his fiancé with all his heart. He only goes along with the plan before he really considers the ramifications and regrets it as soon as she’s out of sight. He is accompanied by best friend Brandon (Dillon Casey, Nikita), a single man who is a horn dog because what male of his age group that isn’t tied down isn’t? He’s harmless enough, but would rather enjoy himself than go on a long search, so he encourages Ryan to stick to the deal. They frequently encounter (much more so than is believable) Mitchell (Nils Hognestad, Lake Placid 3), an obnoxious Australian who just wants to party.

Ryan’s girlfriend, Beth (Meghan Heffern, Blue Mountain State), is seen periodically, but at least in the first episode, has barely any personality of her own. It’s impossible to tell from here if she loves Ryan as much as he loves her, and thus won’t be able to go through with sleeping with anyone else, or may even be looking for him, too, or if she’s a slut who will break his heart. I guess that’s the question viewers will keep watching to have answered. If it’s the latter, she can be dispensed with in the near-ish future when the story needs a jolt. If it’s the former, which I find much more probably, they surely won’t find each other until the series finale, though it would be great if they meet up sooner because it would allow the story to break out of its current mold.

BACKPACKERS could be pretty good with a bit of tweaking. After all, some independent dramas have done a lot with complicated relationships, and this series could explore the mentality that lead Ryan and Beth to this place and where they go from here. But it’s far less sophisticated than that, pure slacker and sex comedy, rather than anything that requires thinking. Unfortunately, on broadcast TV, the content has to be a bit toned down and avoid nudity and other key elements the movie version would contain. It may hit a summer sweet spot for young viewers who don’t know that there’s better (meaning: edgier) out there, even within this genre, but it isn’t likely to spread beyond that.

BACKPACKERS premieres July 14^th at 8:30 p.m. ET on the CW.

"Falling Ash" raining down on Nikita

     The CW's Nikita returned last week, and this past Friday brought the season's second episode, "Falling Ash." Michael (Shane West) convinces Nikita (Maggie Q) to put their main mission on hold when a former Division operation causes trouble. On the scene, they run into Owen (Devon Sawa), who thinks this case might hold they key to get him off of his Division-caused chemical addiction. Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) also investigates at Amanda's (Melinda Clarke) behalf. But Pierce (new series regular Dillon Casey, Being Erica) from Oversight notices when Alex doesn't take an obvious shot at Nikita.

     Spy games continue to dominate this action-packed drama. Alex is in the most precarious position, considering she still works for Division, albeit, by freelance. Alex thinks she has the upper hand on Amanda, and she may, as, at least for now, they both need each other. But Pierce is onto Alex, knowing there is more than meets the surface. He is suspicious from the beginning, but after seeing how Alex lets Nikita operate unhindered, even after Nikita injures Alex, he now knows for sure there is still affection between them. This can only make Alex's job harder, as she will have to keep Pierce happy, and still do the work Amanda wants her to do in order to reach her own goals.

     Alex isn't the only one under Amanda's thumb. Percy (Xander Berkeley) is in a basement cell of Division, with few comforts. He gets a handful of perks in trade for giving Alex information. Percy's insistence on speaking with Alex does make her even more valuable to keep alive, but surely that is not why Percy is doing it. He's either just trying to annoy Amanda, or he has long-term plans for Alex. It's hard to tell which, but Percy doesn't seem scared or impatient in the least, meaning he must have something up his sleeve.

     Meanwhile, Nikita and Michael have a lot to decide when choosing what to do next. Nikita wants to stay focused on taking down Oversight, while Michael still feels a nagging guilt over some things he participated in while with Division. This does cause a minor clash in "Falling Ash," which is resolved when Nikita lets her love for Michael sway her. But Owen complicates things even more when telling Michael he should run away with Nikita, and forget the whole dangerous game, a tempting thought. How long before Michael starts to feel he's done enough, and pushes Nikita to consider retirement? This should provide much story fodder for the season to come, if not beyond.

     Owen's return is not unexpected, but there is a surprising twist at the end. It is obvious that someone in bankrolling Owen's activities, but it's not known who for most of the hour. Owen is not working for nice people. They have given him the means to break his addiction, sure, but only in that it frees him up to better carry out their plans. Which involve taking down Percy, not a bad goal. The real question is, what will they do once Percy is out of their way?

     Finally, Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford), an interesting character from the beginning, has become a true favorite on Nikita. Away from Division and feeling lonely, Birkhoff decides to throw his lot in with Nikita and Michael. He backs away from that soon after, but a pretty face sends him right back in. Birkhoff wants to help, but he doesn't know how to communicate that, which will be his real challenge. Luckily, the duo understand him enough to not make him ask to be included.

     Nikita airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on the CW.

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