Paige Turco | Reviews by Bethany

I was reluctant to become invested in this show when it first aired because even though it’s a J.J. Abrams production, shows this good tend to get cancelled. But as it has been renewed for a fifth season, I think I’m safe to say I absolutely love it without jinxing it. This is totally unlike anything else on television, so don’t be fooled by its description as a crime thriller. Very apropos to the current goings on with the NSA, this show postulates a great what-if question. What if the government had an incredibly complex machine that spied on everyone for the purpose of thwarting terrorist plots against America? Harold Finch (played by Michael Emerson in a much more likeable role than Ben Linus on Lost) built such a machine but was distressed when the government chose not to act in order to prevent non-terrorist related violent crimes, calling them irrelevant. He recruits ex-CIA spook John Reese, brilliantly underplayed by Jim Caviezel, to help him deal with the never-ending stream of numbers and together they follow up on each one. Mr. Reese is very, very good at his new calling and he and the secretive Finch have an entertaining dynamic between them as they each stealthily try to figure out the other one.

The show’s writers ask great questions of the audience, dealing with the ethics of government surveillance, do the ends justify the means, and whether or not a complex machine can be called sentient. All the characters are beautifully drawn and slowly become more complicated and fleshed out as the narrative unfolds. Kevin Chapman as good guy/bad guy Detective Fusco is excellent and get a look at Taraji P. Henson playing the complicated Joss Carter long before she played Cookie on Empire. The introduction of Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi to the show is inspired, but since this is a story where it is better not to know too much going in, I’m being deliberately vague so as not to spoil it for you. Dramatic, wry, often surprisingly funny and deliciously intriguing, this cerebral sleeper is an amazing showcase of humanity in all its facets, running the gamut from the genuinely goodhearted to the truly despicable. – BETHANY

For more on this fabulous show, visit the Internet Movie Database

How The Machine sees the world.

Jim Caviezel evidently kept his look from when he played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ.

Don’t you hate it when someone takes a call while throttling you, as if to underscore what a minor nuisance you are?

Look out, Cookie’s got a gun! Taraji P Henson as Detective Carter.

This is one guy I wouldn’t mind stalking me. Hoo!

The Machine keeping tabs on its ‘assets’.

A rare smile from Reese.

Reese, known to one and all as ‘The Man in the Suit’.

Dang it, she stole a rocket launcher. MY rocket launcher! (Sarah Shahi)

When a payphone rings, you’d best pick it up.

Camryn Manheim as the mysterious ‘Control’.

Paige Turco as high society “fixer” Zoe Morgan.

Just another day on the job.

Finch. “I’m a very private person.” (Michael Emerson)

Photos courtesy of Kilter Films, Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television and CBS (unless otherwise credited in clickable form)

This is what you get when the CW tackles the science fiction sub-genre of a post apocalyptic future. The premise is Earth has been destroyed by a nuclear event, rendering it largely uninhabitable. A group of survivors took refuge on a bunch of orbiting space stations, which then banded together to form The Ark. Three generations later, with supplies growing low, Chancellor Jaha (Isaiah Washington) decides to send 100 young adults currently imprisoned for various infractions to the ground. Quite good thus far, this show is very much in the same vein as Battlestar Galactica, complete with the 12 colonies in space, but in a way the Earth itself is the enemy instead of the Cylons. The comparison is apropos, as there are two Battlestar alums on the show – Alessandro Juliani (Lt. Felix Gaeta) and Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh). We’ve also got Henri Ian Cusick (Desmond from Lost) as a complicated and somewhat nefarious character and one of my personal favorite underrated actresses, Paige Turco, whom I absolutely love in Person of Interest. But so far, the driving force of the story is with the 100 young adults who were sent down to Earth to see if it was survivable. Their story is a bit like Lord of the Flies, as heroes and villains emerge, the inevitable power struggles ensue and the 100 learn there is more to existence than just surviving. The narrative explores the structure of civilization, the ethics of people put under pressure and the human will to live, along with the CW’s patented young adult drama/romance. The 100 discover they are not alone on Earth’s surface, there are “Grounders”, or those who have survived the apocalypse somehow and now live in a primitive tribal-type society. Their fearsome leader is played by Dichen Lachman (Sierra from Dollhouse), and her exotic looks (plus a wicked cool makeup job) actually make her more than a little scary. I’m greatly enjoying the character development of Clarke, Bellamy, Finn, Octavia, Jasper and Monty, as well as some other well-drawn personalities. Dark, creative, dramatic and compelling, I will be very interested to see where this show goes, but it will be tough to fail, stacked as it is with so much talent. [Addendum: Season 1 was only an appetizer to Season 2’s main course – this has developed into a rich and highly complex show and has been renewed for a third season.] – BETHANY