Never read Hollywood trade papers. The sheer number of positively silly terms that have been made up for them is maddening.
I'm one of those "Canadians of Canada" (!), and I can say I quite enjoyed the first season. The stories are cool and the visual effects in the future scenes are pretty fantastic.
To be honest, the first season is kind of a mixed bag. After watching the whole thing I found a better appreciation for the season as a whole, and a lot of the WTF moments that crop up throughout have an explanation in the end, even if it is a bit of a magical handwave. Like I've said before, there are better shows, but there are also worse. The final three episodes are the best of the season. Before that, most of the episodes are "meh" to "okay." Being a Canadian show that's set in Canada makes it somewhat unique. Hey it's not very often on TV you see fictional characters representing CSIS or the Canadian Forces.
If you look at it through a squint, one interpretation is that the depression got so bad that Canada bought America, which is why the top half of the continent is called "northern state one" (been a while.) or some such. America has fallen. America no more. Even Chuck Norris couldn't save the USA from insane fiscal irresponsibility.
I agree with Guy's assessment of it...it starts off awesome, slows in the middle, and has a strong finish. Overall though I thought for a first season it was pretty strong.
Cool, sounds like I'll check it out then. Worf2DS9 mention cool visuals in the future scenes. Is there more of that than just the opening of the pilot?
We get to see bits and pieces of future Vancouver (my favourite part of the show) all through the season...shouldn't really say much more than that.
Each episode usually has an opening and closing scene taking place in the future, usually developing backstory for Keira or one of the gang with some sort of thematic link to the episode's main story. It's possible the episode's story wouldn't be effected that much if these scenes were removed, they are usually the highlight of the episodes and the future is kind of cool and interesting.
Yup, I'll be there. Of course the last time I watched a new genre import from the American continent it was Awake and was cancelled shortly after the pilot episode (and the last time before that was Terra Nova), so it'll be interesting to pick up a series where at least a second season is assured.
Just finally got done watching all of these episodes and wow, was really impressed. Cant wait for the 2nd season.
Season 2 is go. Thank you Canada. I liked season one but too many episodic bottle episodes. What I saw today however? They ran with everything. No villain of the week, no finite limits. Shit is unfolding. "Sigh" Of course that could just be because this episode is an anomaly priming the season. Nichols takes my breath away. HA! Kagame knew that Travis would survive so that he would become his buddy/mentors body guard in prison. Moving bloody chess pieces slyly... "Slyly" is a very weird looking word. Future Alec's message was balls. It was balls if that's all there was. There better be another 90 pages of suggestions and contingencies.
Season two airs on May 23rd for UK/Irish viewers. This is several months ahead of last year, when it aired in September, which might show an increased faith in the property on Skiffy UK's part.
Yeah, with Kiera being more "freelance" than part of the Police Department, it does seem like they want a more conscious shift away from the traditional crime drama formula, even if I'm sure they'll slip right back into it as the season progresses. That said, I did enjoy the hell out of it being back.