Seeking SALVATION

Article first published as TV Review: SALVATION on Seat42F.

CBS has a new summer drama premiering tonight, SALVATION. Humanity is only six months away from being wiped out by an asteroid impact, but almost nobody knows it. When MIT grad student Liam Cole brings the event to the attention of billionaire inventor Darius Tanz, Tanz rushes to the Pentagon to assist in a plan to stop it. Deputy Secretary of Defense, Harris Edwards, assures them that it’s already under control, but he’s definitely lying, even to his inappropriate sweetheart, an employee under him, Pentagon Press Secretary Grace Barrows. Can Tanz and Cole save mankind without the government’s help?

CBS likes to do light science fiction fare in the summer, and SALVATION is no different. Like The Dome or Zoo, it involves a disaster, though this one is a bit less mysterious, and a couple of heroes that must save everyone because, apparently, they are the only ones capable of doing so. It’s like a popcorn action movie spread out over ten to thirteen episodes, with only superficial or generic characters development amid the emergency that the focus is on. It would not be a bad concept to do in the 1990s. In the middle of Peak TV, shows like this are likely to be ignored, not enough quality present to compete with year-round great series.

The biggest thing the show has going for it at the outset is casting Jennifer Finnigan (Tyrant, Close to Home) as Grace. Finnigan is a fun actress who I have enjoyed in many projects previously, and was the biggest reason I had hope for this show. Her primary story is a predictable, though. She’s at the verge of changing careers so she can be with Edwards (Ian Anthony Dale, Hawaii Five-0), but then learns he is keeping secrets from her, casting her decisions in doubt. Another subplot involving her daughter works for the emotional heft needed in episode one, but doesn’t seem to have legs. I hope she is better used going forward, but there’s just not enough meat for Finnigan in the pilot.

The male leads, Santiago Cabrera (Heroes, The Musketeers) as Tanz and Charlie Rowe (Red Band Society) as Liam, aren’t bad, but neither are they magnetic. Instead, they seem to be relatively stock characters themselves, with their complexity coming straight out of a dozen other stories featuring leads that are strikingly similar.

Somewhat interestingly, Liam begins a romance with an aspiring science fiction author, Jillian (Jacqueline Byers, Roadies), just before things get started. If the relationship weren’t so rushed and stereotypical, I might be more interested in how fiction will clash with reality, which is an avenue worth exploring. Provided, of course, SALVATION doesn’t go the Castle route and just make it ridiculously unrealistic, ignoring the actual possibilities of such a plot. (I maintain Castle worked because of Nathan Fillion; anyone else would have struggled to make it watchable.)

I don’t dislike Salvation. As someone that enjoys the genre, I am tempted to watch. The problem is, there needs to be some hook besides the general premise. For instance, last year’s BrainDead was quirky and charming, with great musical recaps at the beginning of each episode, plenty to keep me hooked through the whole single-season run. SALVATION seems to lack that.

In short, there’s a compelling storyline in here somewhere, and there are even some intriguing elements to SALVATION that could make it must-see for sci-fi fans. However, it seems underdeveloped, its characters superficial, which is disappointingly as-predicted for broadcast network summer fare. If CBS would just take the season a little more seriously, get some heft behind a project like this, they would be back in competition with the superior cable networks. But it’s clear already that SALVATION is not going to be the vehicle to do that.

SALVATION premieres tonight at 9/8c.

ASCENSION Rises As Miniseries Goes On

Article first published as ASCENSION Review on Seat42F.

SyFy will soon present ASCENSION, a six-part miniseries that will air over three nights, and if the ratings are good enough, be picked up as a full-blown show, a la Battlestar Galactica. I’ve watched the first two parts, and while it is nowhere nearly as well written and acted as BG, it is an intriguing premise with some really gripping stakes.

The story begins with a murder, which is soon revealed to have taken place aboard the USS Ascension, a massive ship on its way to a new planet. See, in 1963 President Kennedy secretly ordered the launch of several hundred human begins into the unknown, set to colonize a new planet and ensure the survival of the human race. These people are nearly halfway through their mission, setting it approximately in the present day, and while it’s presented as a twist on the show, marketing materials have made it clear that’s what’s going on, so I don’t feel bad about spoiling it.

The ship is captained by William Denninger (Brian Van Holt, Cougar Town), who is coming to grips with the fact that he is the “middle captain,” who neither launched the ship nor will lead it to its final destination, so will likely not have a memorable legacy. His wife, Viondra (Tricia Helfer, Battlestar Galactcia) is a sneaky manipulator, who wields her own power, separate from her husband. These two are in charge of many things, sometimes benevolently, sometimes not so kindly.

The Ascension itself is interesting because it obviously has very advanced technology, as developed in the 1960s, meaning monitors are black and white and most control panels are knobs and lights, not interactive computers as we think of them today. I’m not sure that I buy that our country was capable of constructing such a thing in the 1960s, and the way the place is presented may not completely make sense.

If this has you wavering in your enjoyment, as it did me, stick through the first night and your patience will be rewarded. This would be a very different article if I was writing to viewers who’d seen the full two hours, and while it isn’t the best series on television, with many flaws, I am completely hooked and on board after night one. Trust me and watch. ASCENSION deserves a pick-up. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Oh, yeah, back to the murder, since that’s the driving story, even though I’m much more interested in the logistics of the ship itself. This small community has virtually no crime, and this is the first murder committed since the launch. That means there really isn’t a structure in place to investigate and punish the wrong-doer. Enter Oren Gault (Brandon P. Bell, Hollywood Heights), the noble executive officer who steps up to the task.

Rounding out the cast are: Dr. Juliet Bryce (Andrea Roth, Rescue Me), who isn’t getting along too well with her daughter, Nora (Jacqueline Byers, Blizzard), a strong-willed individual deeply affected by the murder; Chief Astronomer Emily Vanderhaus (Tiffany Lonsdale, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), the elder sister of the victim; Chief Safety Officer Duke Vanderhaus (Ryan Robbins, Falling Skies), Emily’s husband, who doesn’t like that Gault is heading up the case; James Toback (P.J. Boudousque, Coldwater), a maintenance worker and love interest for Nora; and Harris Enzmann (Gil Bellows, Ally McBeal), the son of the man who headed up the Ascension mission, who is back on Earth.

Yep, we get to see what’s happening on our own planet, too. What does Harris know? What will he do with that knowledge? This is another subplot that draws me in.

My biggest complaint that I currently have about ASCENSION is, where are the old people? The ship launched fifty years ago, roughly, so there should be lots of senior citizens on board who made up the original crew. We don’t glimpse this, with the focus on those who weren’t born yet when the mission started. This is a nagging query not addressed in these two hours that has to be satisfactorily explained for the series to be any good.

There are weaknesses in ASCENSION. I feel like some of the actors are woefully miscast. For example, I adore Brian Van Holt on the sitcom he’s been starring in, but his take on Captain Denninger doesn’t have the weight it should, at least in my opinion. Some of the happenstances are a little hokey and formulaic, and far too many people are cheating on their significant others. But there is a very strong mythology here that could override those problems, and given the nature of the show, the beginning cast doesn’t necessarily need to stay front and center over multiple seasons. The best parts of the miniseries beg for further exploration, and that’s why I ask you to please tune in, at least for the entire first night, and then make your decision about whether or not to continue watching.

ASCENSION begins Monday, December 15^th on SyFy.