Crisis - Episode 1.01 - Pilot - Review: What will you do for your child?

You need to ask yourself the question: how far are you willing to go? What will you do for your child?

That's quite a question. Being a parent sure is not an easy job. But imagine that your lovely child is taken from you. How far are you willing to go to get him/her back? What will you do for your child?

This question has been the basis for various books, movies and television series. One of these series is NBC's new thriller Crisis, which follows in the footsteps of recent miniseries such as CBS' Hostages or ABC's Missing where parents are prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure that their children are safe.

In Crisis, it's not just one child who has been kidnapped; it's a whole group of them! What's more, these teenagers are the sons and daughters of the most powerful people in Washington D.C. (the President, CEO's, ambassadors etc). These powerful parents have to ask themselves the question: how far am I willing to go to get my child back? The first parent who has to ask themselves that question is Mr. Roth, who is forced to sabotage a government satellite to get his son Anton back.

One of the other parents is Meg Fitch, the CEO of an international IT company, whose daughter Amber is among the hostages. Her estranged sister just happens to be FBI agent Susie Dunn, who is one of the many people trying to find the kids. While starting to realize that the captors know exactly what they are doing and are not easy to get to, Susie asks to see her daughter. Yes, Amber is Susie's daughter who she left at her sister so she could take care of her.

Meanwhile, the kids have been taken to a mansion with their teacher Mr. Nash and his companion and former CIA analyst Francis Gibson, who also happens to be the father of one of the children, Beth Ann. When Gibson attempts to go against the kidnappers, he does not stand a chance and one of his fingers is cut off. He is then taken to the other captors, where it is revealed that, yes really, he is the mastermind behind this crisis.

Elsewhere, the aforementioned Anton is rescued from the kidnappers by Secret Service Agent Marcus Finley. After Finley was shot by his partner, he managed to run away into the woods with Anton. Followed by one of the captors, Finley and Anton eventually find a signal to call 911.

If you've read my preview, you already know what my opinion of the pilot is. Since there hasn't been much changed for the final version, I am just going to stick with what I said in the preview. There was one major difference between the screener I have seen and the final: the scene with Beth Ann's birthday. Originally, in the screener this was just Gibson getting a phone call about the CIA operation gone wrong, but in the final version his boss comes to tell him in person. I found the final scene much stronger than the one I saw first, so I guess if this scene was shot during the unplanned hiatus, it's a good thing they had one.

What did you think of the first episode of Crisis? Looking forward to seeing what's next? Do you think Francis is really the mastermind behind this grand plan, or do you think he is also coerced into doing this? Check out the promo below for footage from the rest of the season, and come back later today or tomorrow to check out my preview of the next episode of which I have also seen a screener (thank you, NBC!).

About the Author - Daniel

Daniel (Veer95) is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS and the upcoming shows Crisis and The 100. He also likes to watch Arrow, The Tomorrow People, NCIS: LA, Nikita, The Blacklist, Under the Dome, Intelligence and Hostages.