TV: Aliens on the Tube, Take Two
By stephanie - Friday, September 30th, 2005
Watched the second episodes of “Threshold” and “Invasion.” (I’ve decided to skip “Surface” completely for now unless I hear it’s getting really good.)
Threshold
Episode 2 of “Theshold” was a bit of a disappointment after the two-hour premiere. We are taken to a boy’s military academy where strange goings-on are afoot. Not promising. I’m always dubious about any shows involving possessed children.
At one point, a group of young cadets starts stalking Karen Sisko (or whatever the name of the female lead is). It was like something out of that old bad sci-fi movie with Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alley…you know, the one with the identical blonde children who are running amok in a small town.
Such images aren’t even scary anymore; they are a joke. Also, the coordination between the main characters just didn’t seem to be there…things just didn’t seem to flow together at all. The team didn’t feel like a team to me…though of course they are still just getting to know each other in that fictional world. I think this might work better if the writers would slow it down a bit and stop trying to make the show non-stop action. Frankly, unless you’ve got a zillion dollar budget, non-stop action on TV is rarely done in an interesting fashion – real tension and horror needs to come from the psychological. This is why “Invasion” fared better this week.
Overall, this was a weak outing for the first “real” episode of “Threshold,” but the show is still promising.
Invasion
I missed the first 10 minutes of “Invasion,” which is too bad, because I got the sense that this was probably the most exciting part of Episode 2. However, I’m starting to like this show more. The intra-family dynamics, coupled with the “invaded” mom acting weirder all the time, are starting to get seriously creepy. In this episode, the previously overly protective mom actually leaves her children home alone all night (never coming home from the hospital). Later on she admits that the children just weren’t in her mind at all…and she’s as worried about this “oversight” as anyone is.
The Concerned Dad is turning into an interesting character (since he’s driven by many opposing forces in this series). It doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty darn hot too.
While I’m not sure how well this series is going to “scale” (to escalate the horror), it’s really starting to interest me. I’m looking forward to watching this story develop.
“Invasion” wins this round.
October 12th, 2005 at 2:49 am
“Threshold” never really grabbed me, so it’s not on the PVR list.
But “Invasion” is coming along nicely. The main things that I like about it are:
1. The characters aren’t annoying. (Unlike the characters in “Surface”.)
2. I can’t see where the story is going beyond the next few episodes. That mystery is what’s keeping my attention.