24's Kiefer Sutherland returns to television in Tim Kring's new thought-provoking and intriguing FOX drama series Touch.
The series from Heroes creator follows Martin Bohm(Sutherland), a single father whose wife died in the 9/11 attacks and is left alone to raise his 11-year-old son, Jake Bohm(David Mazouz), who is believed to be autistic. The pilot episode opens to Jake sitting on top of an electricity tower as her informs the audience that everyone in this world is in some way, shape or form connected. Obsessed with numbers and somehow unable or unwilling to speak, Jake is sent to an institution after a social worker, Clea Hopkins(Gugu Mbatha-Raw) comes to evaluate and conclude that it is best for Jake to be put in the institute. What unfolds is a string of global events—a man looking for his missing phone; a young woman with aspiring to become a singer; and a young boy faced with an economical family dilemma—that somehow find their way to connect together all through the numbers that Jake writes out.
From the innovative title sequence to the very last minutes of the pilot, extraordinary cinematography is incorporated to tell this story of social connectivity. The pilot is not only well-written, engaging and impeccably executed, but also manages to tug at your emotions, especially with the relationship between the father and son pair.
The series itself seems like a unusual concept for a television series, as one could assume that there is no life that could live beyond the pilot for narrative like this. However, upon finishing the premiere episode I can confidently say that not only will the pilot leave you pondering what will happen next, but it also makes you eager to get the next installment immediately. FOX has a new hit on their hands, one that is not only interesting but also magnetically interesting.
"Touch" premieres Monday, March 19 at 9/8c on FOX.
Nice review!
ReplyDeleteI agree with almost everything you said, but I thought the pilot was a little heavy-handed in it's "tugging" on emotional strings to the point of "yanking" maybe. XD
It was very well done though! Beautiful is true and it felt more liek a movie than a TV sereis in the manner it was shot. Great stuff!
The only bit I do not agree with is wondering what will happen next.....
I have not thought about it at all since there was no overarching story or mystery to it since it was a self contained episode.
I assume next week will be new unrelated strangers that end up being connected by a series of numbers that Martin Bohm will struggle to decode. But I'm sure with the help of the "Teller Institute" and the world's least busy child welfare worker (who appears to have only one case), they will discover that seemingly random events do in fact connect the aforementioned unrelated strangers.
Thanks for the review Kyle
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the writers of the series will later on down the road add a storyline about how the government or terrorists will want to get ahold of the kid so that they can use him to predict the future for selfish gains. That would give the show a more serial storyline perhaps...
ReplyDeleteI would love to think so!
ReplyDeleteWith the current state of anti-serial feelings on network TV though I'm thinking not.
Even if it was less conspiracy theory and something serial, I think there needs to be some larger picture to bring scope to the series. After watching the pilot we already know Jake sees patterns and recognizes connections, seemingly unrelated events and people. There just needs to be something more to give the show some direction in my mind.
Without something larger it's basically a more sentimental Person of Interest, but far less snarky and interesting to me! xD Remove the machine and insert Jake. Then remove the professional operator and computer genius and replace them with a social worker and his dad as the team analyzing the data and trying to save the impending victims.
I think there is a budding mythology arc in there somewhere. I think the fact that his mother died during 9/11 is not be overlooked, it's not just a one off, IMO. The whole Generation Z (I hate that name) thing is a pretty interesting topic of interest. These kids were born during a time of amazing tech and gadgets and social networking and the whole global village concept, I can see it all feeding into the background. But when they said autism and good with numbers I kept picturing Rain Man, which in a way it what it kind of felt like. But in a good way. I like this show and it has sooo much potential. But if Tim Kring botches this, I will never give him another chance. I like this show, I like a lot more than Alcatraz (which fell completely flat for me, so much so, that I didn't make it to the 30 minute marker). But then again I love POI (and I also noted the similarities).
ReplyDeleteI hope that is the case!
ReplyDeleteI think this was more polished than Alcatraz''s pilot. It didn't pull me in nearly as much though honestly. I'm not a fan of ramrodded sentimentality and "we're all connected" feel-goodery.... and I am a fan of mystery and conspiracy, so I guess maybe it is more of a genre choice than a quality of product choice.
I agree with you Lilith, I personally found myself more engaged with the "Touch" pilot episode more than the "Alcatraz" one. While I was able to sit through the first hour of "Alcatraz", I only made it through half of the second hour. Both are good shows though, but I just think that "Touch" was more well-written and better put together.
ReplyDeleteI personally dislike Alcatraz. However, Touch is far superior. I predict massive ratings.
ReplyDelete