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Believe Series Premiere Review: “Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1)

J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón are two of the most exciting and respected filmmakers working today, and their names are often seen as an undeniable sign of quality. Abrams is known for being behind some of the most unique and mythology-heavy television shows of the last decade (Alias, Lost, and Fringe, to name a few), while Cuarón is recognized for his incredible filmography and that nice golden Best Director Oscar that now sits on his shelf for Gravity. So, when it was announced that the duo would be teaming up to produce a show on NBC called Believe, fans of the filmmakers were, as expected, incredibly excited.

Believe - Season Pilot

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The two attempt to leave the hospital but run into the badass chick that ran Bo and her parents off the road in the show’s opening (before quickly snapping the parents’ necks, which was awesome), resulting in a pretty cool fight and chase sequence. The woman, whose name is Leeds according to iMDB, is played by Katie McClellan, and she is easily the best part about the pilot. McClellan is fierce, beautiful, and relentless, hunting Bo and her protectors across town and doing some great damage along the way. I hope she stays around as she really is a ton of fun to watch.

Along with the chase sequences, there is a side story involving a doctor who just lost his first patient and runs into Bo. She unknowingly predicts the future, urging him not to quit and reminding him of a patient named Senga. As it turns out, the patient is someone the doctor hasn’t met yet, named Agnes, and we see after he saves her life that the reflection of balloons spelling her name reveal the name Senga.

I suspect each episode will feature some side story involving Bo changing or affecting someone’s life, thus showing us the great power of her gifts as she and Tate go town to town on the run from their foes. Unfortunately, I think that this Touched By An Angel life-changing schtick may grow old with time, but we’ll have to see.

As for the performances, Bo is played by a young girl named Johnny Sequoyah, who actually does a great job in the role she’s given. Child actors are usually wild cards, but Sequoyah gave a lot of weight to the part and arguably acted better than her counterpart, McLaughlin, who is a bit stiff and one dimensional in his role as Tate.

Overall, Believe was remarkably forgettable considering the talent behind it, and other than a few interesting visuals from Cuarón, it will have a hard time standing out. Only time will tell if the series can overcome some of the more run-of-the-mill problems seen in the pilot, but there is definitely potential here for it to be something worthy. Whether or not it will live long enough to get the chance to get there though is another story.