From the creators of The Good Wife comes a smart, fun, dark, but very politically relevant series about a young woman named Laurel Healy (Mary Elisabeth Weinstead), who sets her passion for documentary film-making aside to come and work for her brother, Democratic Senator Luke Healy (Danny Pino), in Washing D.C. after negotiating a six month deal wither her father, Dean Healy (Zach Grenier), another man of the United States Government.
But what Laurel and the viewers begin discover, as the science fiction story about a meteorite falling from space onto Russian soil and later finds it's way to The Smithsonian, comes with horrific consequences that makes the already insane divisive climate of politicians, starting with rival senators blackmailing a deal over a government shutdown, and during an election year, even more polarizing and outrageous than it already appears.Much like The Good Wife, the acting pedigree and display of interesting characters keeps the show amusing. There is Laurel's potential love interest, the witty Gareth Ritter (Aaron Tveit), whom works for Republican Senator Raymond "Red" Wheatus (Tony Shalhoub). We also are introduced to Luke's wife, Germain (Lily Cowels), and his Chief of Staff, Scarlet Pierce (Paige Patterson) along with other minor or reoccurring characters, such as The Randells, Claudia Monarch (Beth Malone), and Dr. Daudier (Michale Potts) . Also note, a couple of the other main characters are not yet introduce
Other highlights the pilot offers include using Laurel's interest of being a documentary film-maker as a motif to integrate real-life news clips featuring the likes of Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton and fictional clips of other events, shot on phones, are nicely woven throughout the episode across various TV screens and laptops.
For those that know more about the premise of Braindead's mythology from either promotional content or press releases, one may be surprised that "it" doesn't come with a zombie-thoughtlessness, like many in this genre would think it would, but that there is nice irony for at least two of it's victims, one of which is one of the main characters of the series! Also be on the look out for one new wave 80's pop tune becoming increasingly popular among Washing D.C.'s new demographic!But over all what makes the pilot so great is that underneath the political satire and dark-science-fiction-thriller-mystery, there is a story about a young ethically conscious girl coming to terms with the convoluted and sometimes thoughtless nature of her political family vs searching for love and happiness while in the middle of the political arena, which in itself may reflect a unconventional coming of age story for humanity.
If you're someone looking for something very well-rounded, unique personalities, engaging, and aren't too jaded by the on-goings of American politics and/or The American People during a heightened election year, or put off by horrifying satire, I recommend checking the Pilot out and see for yourself.
