Synopsis:
Jump aboard the high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, The Class) as he investigates the disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila (Sarah Roemer, Disturbia), unwittingly exposing a cover-up so big it could change the fate of all mankind. Sean’s quest sends ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including newly-elected U.S. President Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood, In Treatment) and Sophia Maguire (Laura Innes, ER), the leader of a mysterious group of detainees. Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls), Ian Anthony Dale (Daybreak), Clifton Collins, Jr. (Star Trek), Taylor Cole (The Violent Kind) Lisa Vidal (The Division), Bill Smitrovich (The Practice) and Zeljko Ivanek (Damages) also star. From Nick Wauters (The 4400), Steve Stark (Medium), Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) and Evan Katz (24) comes a suspense-filled journey where the answers only lead to bigger questions.
What We Thought:
I didn’t watch The Event when it first aired. I actually had it confused with a more recent show so when The Complete Series Blu-ray came my way from Mill Creek Entertainment I popped it in. The first few episodes are a combination of The X-Files, Lost and 24. As the season progressed I’d add Ancient Aliens to that mix. I can see why it didn’t get great ratings on NBC and why it was cancelled, but overall I liked the show.
The first few episodes use flashbacks to give backstory to most of the major characters. There is Sean Walker (Jason Ritter) who is the lead. He’s a youngish hacker type on vacation with his girlfriend, but she gets sick and then disappears. The hotel has no history of him staying there and he immediately goes on the run. He’s on a plane that is going to be used to kill the president, but disappears and ends up in Arizona from Miami. Sean takes off once on the ground and the story unfolds there.
The flashbacks and different perspectives is similar to 24, but after a few episodes it loses the flashbacks and the show becomes more linear. It’s similar to Lost in that you know what seems to be real isn’t. It’s The X-Files with its alien and government conspiracy storylines. It’s not as good as all of that seems to be, but I did binge it over a few days and it held my attention enough to get through it. By the end it talks about this alien race being on Earth before humans and that definitely has an Ancient Aliens vibe to it.
As the series moves along you get to know more about the president, Sophia, the leader of the aliens, Sean, his girlfriend and her father, Agent Lee and Vicky who all end up much different than how they started. The first season ended on a cliffhanger and the series was cancelled so we never got closure on what happens. The major part of the finale was wrapped up, but the first season sees the aliens almost coming to Earth and a reveal from one of the important characters.
The Event might have done better on a different network. NBC was definitely searching for the next big thing like 24 or Lost, but the series just doesn’t fit NBC to me. It aired in 2010-2011 when there were a lot of sci-fi and genre shows trying to survive and the NBC audience just wasn’t there. If it was on SyFy, FX or one of those cable networks it might have gotten a second season, but alas it didn’t. If like me you have never seen it, it’s worth a watch, but know it did get cancelled and didn’t get full closure.
The Nerds Templar 