Believe - 1.01 "Pilot" - Review - Learn To Have Faith In Others

From executive producer J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe Star Trek), writer Mark Friedman (Home of the Brave), and director Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, Gravity) comes the first installment about a little girl with supernatural-kinetic powers and a man sprung from death row encharged in protecting her from others that wish to misuse or destroy her abilities!

This is my third viewing of the Pilot and I find it gets more and more enjoyable after every viewing. On my first watch, which I stated on my Spoiler Free Preview of the Pilot, I felt it had some trouble in establishing it's genre and some scenes felt forced, but I found that not having to anticipate what the plot was, I could more easily enjoy what I didn't the first time around.

Some have compared the series to Fox's canceled Touch and others to even the old Touched by an Angel and although it's easy to make some comparisons to both of those shows, it's really more in line with Bad Robot picking up several familiar elements, characters, and ideas and rehashing them to give us something similar, but also different. It basically reminds me of a James "Sawyer" Ford (Lost)-type character were protecting a cortexiphan child (Fringe) while being on the run from deadly assassins and/or wealthy Government officials and field agents, who may or may not have the worlds' best interest at heart (Alias). It's not to say that viewers may also be reminded of Heroes or other stories involving children and people having special powers, but more over I think it has a lot of elements that viewers can relate or compare other works to.

Johnny Sequoya's Bo should immediately be recognized for a strong female lead and not just an antidote to move the adult characters' stories forward. I was impressed with young actress' ability to portray someone at times that is direct, fearless, and emotionally understanding beyond her years and then turn around in another scene and be a frightened child when experiencing a new ability. I think it was the right approach to find an actress with a strong personality and to create a role with a child who is on the well-rounded side, as opposed to going more for the silent-shy route.

I thought Tate (Jake McLaughlin), Milton Winter (Delroy Lindo), and Canning (Jamie Chung) all come off established with only Roman Skouras (Kyle McLachlan) being one character who's brief appearance in the Pilot is flat and doesn't yet measure up to the kind of villain I'm assuming he's playing. Additionally there is actress Sienna Guillory in the role of Moore, whom at first comes off over the top, I still found amusing and added something comical to episode. (I was reminded of a visually watered down gothic version of Cate Blanchett's character in Joe Wright's film Hanna) -But if you enjoyed her, like me, don't expect her to stick around for much longer, as part of the retooling being done post-Pilot is that the character has been written out, --and whose role will seemingly be taken over by Corey (Arian Moayed), Moore's "right hand man" being introduced next episode.  Also according to some press releases and IMDb we should be on the look out for a lot of recurring characters including FBI agents!


Visually there wasn't really a specific style, especially in terms of the settings, but thinking of "Children of Men", perhaps this is Cuaron's way of grounding the science fiction in reality, but there was really nice special effects and movement on the opening car crash scene and the Alfred Hitchcock-like Bo controlling pigeons with a certain-screaming-pitch scene. It makes me hopeful that we could see more and more interestingly looking scenes down the line.

For people expecting a more mysterious Bad Robot Pilot, this isn't it, but instead it's a bit more character driven and the story with Bo helping the young doctor believe in himself by allowing him to understand that his father loves him, and by letting him know Senga (Agnes) is coming, just gives the beginning of the series a feel-good start.

However I do suspect after reading/viewing some interviews with mild spoilers that the mystery surrounding Bo's abilities are coming. -And considering that this mystery centers around a main character more than a specific event unlike other Bad Robot Pilots, might it have been a very smart choice to build on her character before getting a little more into the mythology, reminding us that this possible threat is still a person, still a child, and still someone's daughter.



Over all I think it was good Pilot, but it's hard to say where it's going and which of it's genres (science fiction, action thriller, family drama) will take more precedence and/or if they can find a better way to balance those things out.

One mystery and piece of mythology to ponder is the blue butterfly. Again off the concept of Fringe, does it seem to be something that might be astral projected and/or telekinetic linked (think Olivia Dunham and John Scott) between Bo and her father. It will be interesting to see if it continues to show up and if it's visual appearance is limited to Tate's perception, or if eventually others Bo connects with will be able to see it too?

Some other thing to consider is who is Bo's mother and does it matter? Is Bo a byproduct of being genetically modified in the womb or is this natural (I suspect genetic modification given some other spoilers)? Does Bo know that Tate is her father, because if not, it adds another layer of mystery to her abilities mostly being used to change the outcomes of other families, although that in and of itself could emotionally change Tate and Bo's relationship anyways,-a kind of observer effect. There is also her turtle "Stanley" that allegedly Bo's biological mother gave her, but I'm wondering if there isn't something hidden inside Stanley and if the name Stanley itself isn't code word or reference for something?

What I liked most was the the ability for majority of the main characters to be introduced and none, except for Roman and Milton seemed to have many answers, showing all the other characters as vulnerable and flawed, despite their strong opinions. I also really liked how the story of the week, which I'm assuming most episodes will have, was used to contrast the truth about Bo and Tate and I look forward seeing how these two souls do being shoved in the center of what I think will be two very strong forces at work, in which either side due to Roman's and Milton Winter's history will not remain black and white and where Tate and Bo are going to have to make some tough decisions, that is, if they can survive each other.

The truth be told the series is going to have a rough time in it's regular Sunday night at 9 PM timeslot, especially since Resurrection's premiere was much better than I expected and because soon enough A Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead will also be back on the screen.

Bad Robot Factor:
Each week after my review I will bring this section relating to many things Bad Robot in relationship to the episode, as I feel certain Bad Robot often makes a point to reference themselves with similar characters, subject matter, riffs, easter eggs, aesthetics, contrasting situations, & occasionally shared pop cultural references. So this section is to explore the possibility of those things, which may provide some and insight speculation and at the very least food for thought and/or trivia. I also think it's just fun to be able to reminisce!

People Like Us

There are a lot of things reminiscent to Fringe in this first installment, but even Fringe owes it's origins most likely to Alias (See episode 3.09 "Conscience"), as Alexander Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, J.R. Orci, and Jeff Pinkner all have worked on both projects and in which fringe science itself is the Rambaldi-underbelly of the family spy saga, but even things like "Project Christmas" seem similar to Cortexiphan children, when seeing both young Sydney and Olivia play with spacial reasoning blocks and both become government soldiers of sorts, despite different stylizations of story telling and rather different characters those two characters are from each other.

Bo herself seems like a warm-blooded character. She's ultimately closer to Sydney Bristow, or even Revolution's Charlie Matheson rather than cooler blue universe Olivia Dunham or a Lost's Juliet Burke. There's a fiery bite in Bo that I think goes beyond what we have seen before, simply because this is the first time we are following a character from such a young age. And given that Alfonso Cuaron has directed my favorite Harry Potter film and novel, I have great confidence that he will continue to give us some of that magic that the third Harry Potter film had in being able to see the younger cast transform into young adults in a good and charming way.

Note: Actor Rami Malek in the role of Dr. Adam Terry also appeared on Alacraz as inmate Web Porter. And the name Web Porter may be a wink to pre-Bad Robot Felicity.

If Music Be The Food of Love
Music is also something that tends to be highly thematic and often a spiritual or metaphysical concept in Bad Robot shows, as many of the characters are musicians, dream of being musicians, and/or have music be a part of their lives in other ways (Radio, Music Box, Turntable, 8 Track). Other characters like Senga/Agnes who play guitar are Charlie Pace, Liam Pace, and Julie Emrick.

Butterfly/Moth Effect:
In the episode we see this blue butterfly that seems to only be able to be seen on a certain plane of reality and/or only between certain people. Fringe is notoriously where one sees butterflies and moths, especially "blue" ones, but really the first presentation of them is in LOST with the episode "The Moth", which is a symbol of hope and in proving John Locke's belief that suffering is natures way of strengthening. On Fringe they are part of the glyph code and play more into perception of reality and/or hallucinations. A blue robotic butterfly can also be seen in the Almost Human Pilot.


The Way We Fight
The fighting style with Tate and Moore at the warehouse reminded me much of the hand to hand fight scenes on Alias, which in turn may extend with similar fighting styles in Mission Impossible series, especially Jane Carter and Sabine Moreau in Ghost Protocol.

MRI Scan

Bo's MRI scan immediately reminded me of another character who can see the future (and other realities/time travel), Desmond David Hume on LOST. In the season 6th episode "Happily Ever After". Desmond's flash-sideways experience also includes an MRI scan, because in the ethereal [death] plane, Desmond continues to play "Fail Safe", as he is able to remember things from his past life due to a brush in with Charlie Pace. Additionally Desmond's hospital scenes also feature a chase sequence.

Note: Fringe's Walter Bishop also has an MRI scan in the episode "Grey Matters".





Heart of the Truest Believer
Note: Taking a segway to former LOST and Felicity writers Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis and their Once Upon A Time series, Emma seems to be able to control the lights or electricity when giving birth to Henry. And Once Upon A Time in Wonderland's season finale is titled "And They Lived..." with the "..." thought to be the iconic phrase "Happily Ever After". Will be curious to see if the Lost episode or in the Believe Pilot will relate. Once Upon A Time also shares actress Jamie Chung and "Believers" were coined at the end of season two with characters Greg and Tamara who set out to kidnap Henry under false pretenses for Peter Pan, Henry's grandfather...

Cortexiphan Subjects

Bo's kinetic abilities seem more in line with Fringe's cortexiphan subjects (children whom were experimented on with a drug that help them tap into reality changing abilities) than Alias' "Project Christmas" (children whom were conditioned by a mind control program to be able to have abilities later in life to be spies and recruited by the government). It will be interesting to see if Bo's abilities are considered natural or if she was a genetically modified being prior to birth? Alfonso Cuaron has stated at the NBC Upfronts from last spring that Bo isn't alone in having abilities....

Note: Fringe comic series Tales of the Fringe each featured a back story of a main character and then an additional stand alone story that often had similar in-show subject matter/themes and occasionally gave insight. Issue number 3 stand alone story was about a mother who was trying to find her stolen baby hidden in the back rooms of a toy store. The story continued on to present the reader that the baby was one of the deadliest weapons in the world, even ultimately killing it's mother in the end!

Note: Children of Men is also a season one Revolution episode title and being conceptually-spun the phrase really alludes to the fact that all men where children once and that children are always humanity's future. A lot of Bad Robot works (Alias, Fringe, Alcatraz, Revolution) tend to also be family sagas and Believe seems like it can also fit into that category, as in all of those series generations of family struggle with the truth of older character's pasts and are working to make broken families more whole again.


Corporate Spiritually Driven Villain
Most Bad Robot Villains tend to be corporate, sophisticated, intellectual, have ties to the U.S. Government, and have extreme spiritual belief systems, but also tend to be very human characters in which their villainy doesn't come off as black and white. Some of these include Arvin Sloan (Alias), Charles Widmore & Benjamin Linus (LOST), William Bell, Walternate, David Robert Jones (Fringe), The Patriots (Revolution)

Playing God
Bad Robot often looks at this idea from various perspectives often in relation to advanced technology, artificial intelligence, and/or advanced beings and tends to be be at both the moral center of various characters and the metaphysical backbone of many works' mythology, but it is also sometimes is a motif/theme in which characters know religious figures and/or characters who pretend to be priests, such as we see with Winter helping Tate escape from jail.

Michael Vaughn also pretends to be a priest to get closer to an organization that makes a drug that dry-freezes people in the episode "Ice" on Alias and more iconic Mr. Eko pretends to be a priest to smuggle drugs out of Nigeria only to watch his actual priest brother Yemi die and ultimately he takes his place and attempts to redeem himself on LOST.

Tis The Season

Another trade mark that has made it's way into some Bad Robot works are allusions and references pertaining to the Winter season or Christmas. Believe has a character with the last name of Winter.

Some of these are:
The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - (LOST, Fringe)
Young Olivia makes it snow (Fringe)
Dr. Winters (Fringe)
It's a bloody snow globe/snow globes (LOST, Fringe)
I want to see it snow in New York City/ashes look like snow/Christmas Tree Fire (pre-Bad Robot: Felicity)
Red and Green lights (Fringe)
Young Olivia Dinner @ Christmas time (Fringe)
CIA Agent Mark Snow (Person of Interest)
Charlie & Liam Pace Christmas Morning Flashback (LOST)
Project Christmas (Alias)
The Observer December (Fringe)
Code Word "Christmas" (Fringe)

Did you like the Believe Pilot? Have a favorite character yet? Did you know that Tate was going to be Bo's father? Who do you think Bo's mother is and do you think she will play a significant role in series? Do you believe in Believe to see some more episodes? Let us know in the comments below?

About the Author - Darthlocke4

Laura Becker (Darthlocke 4) is a long time commentator, TV addict, and aspiring writer participating with other fans on SpoilerTV. She writes reviews and analytic type articles. Some of her other interests include philosophy, cultural anthropology, reading, drawing, and working with animals, as she grew up and continues to work on her family's horse farm.