Summary: Michael is the prime minister and he receives a video from an anonymous who says he has captured Princess Susannah and will only release her if he broadcasts a video later that day of him having intercourse with a pig. The video was uploaded on YouTube and has gone viral. As the situation worsens, and the terrorist isn't found, Michael is forced to perform the act to save Susannah. Susannah is let free but she was released a half hour before the act. The terrorist kills himself.
The Good: This was such a unique pilot for a TV show. I've heard a lot about this show, and to say the least, this first episode really surprised and impressed me. I really liked the overall story. Sure it was ridiculous (see: The Bad), but it was so ridiculous that it became genius, as it was such a creative new idea which added some very real stakes to the episode. The episode had the basic kidnapping story with the main character needing to do something to save the victim, but it was kept fresh by the extremely strange ransom which not only piqued my interest, but kept me hooked for the entire hour, allowing me to enjoy the story. Like seriously, the ransom requested for the prime minister to have intercourse with a pig on a live broadcast. Who expected that? I surely didn't and the episode did a great job to make me think about what the ransom could possibly be, before blowing my mind with what it actually was. I laughed immediately after hearing it and I thought it was stupid, but the stupidity of it all kept me invested somehow and allowed me to completely enjoy the episode. That was masterful writing which took advantage of the active mind of the audience and used it to create something really good. The overall message was really good too. I love this look at how technology destroys people and turns a private and embarrassing story into everybody's problem. It's a message which hasn't been done to death and it was intelligently and subtly placed into this episode without it ever feeling like it was rubbed in our faces. I also like the detail of how the crowd were initially almost excited to watch the event before being overcome with horror as their PM did something truly horrific to save a life. It's a good portrayal of how people usually don't realize how terrible things are until they see or experience it firsthand. I really liked Michael as the main character in this episode. He did a great job portraying the prime minister's initial hope that everything would work out, before slowly getting more aggressive and scared as he realized that he may actually have to do something terrible. There were a lot of really good scenes with him, such as the one where he walked down the hall to do the act as the camera zoomed in on his face. His assistant talked in the background, but the words reaching Michael's ears weren't matching the lips. The sequence was wonderful and did a fantastic job of portraying Michael's fear and unease. The actual act was suitably horrific without showing anything. The reactions of the people watching were all that was necessary to convey the uncomfortable nature of the situation and how awful it was. It would have been too much to actually show the act, so I think the subtle approach was absolutely the right call. The ending was stellar too, providing a real irony as it was revealed that Susannah was released a half hour before the act, rendering the whole thing pointless. The Bad: The whole thing feels a little too ridiculous. I could never buy something like this actually happening and it seems ridiculous for the PM to actually do something so embarrassing on live television. Even worse is the fact that majority of people seemed to want him to do it, including the people he worked with. I could buy a few people making that decision, but not 86%. That's just insane and unrealistic. How did the terrorist know that they were planning a fake with Rod Senseless? Apparently there were social media posts, but how did he get access to all of this without anybody else knowing? Apparently it was only one man, so it's hard to buy that he can pull all of this off by himself. Susannah getting released early felt too convenient. Did nobody really notice her on that bridge for half an hour? Surely there were tons of people who didn't want to watch the awful act on television (especially CHILDREN) so why weren't there more people outside who could have potentially found Susannah? The one girl working for UKN was a really stupid story. It was a side-plot and seemed to accomplish nothing. It's hard to buy that a news reporter would go into such a dangerous location without informing anybody, especially when there was a government mission taking place. The Unknown: What were the killer's motives? Apparently he was an artist, so was this some twisted form of art he was trying to create? I doubt we will get an answer, but it's really fascinating to come up with theories for why this guy did what he did. Has Michael lost his wife after this whole ordeal? That's quite a tragic ending if it is the case. Best Moment: The final twist that Susannah was released earlier was a genuine surprise and made all fo the suffering essentially meaningless. We were treated to Michael throwing up and crying immediately afterwards, making for some really tragic and painful viewing which this pretty hard. Character of the Episode: Michael. Conclusion: This was such a uniquely crafted episode. It was a simple story which we have seen hundreds of times, yet with a ridiculous twist which both added to the story and took away from it. While there were lots of cons, I think the good outweighs the bad here and I can comfortably say that this was a good pilot episode. I'm really intrigued to see what other stories this show will explore. Score: 67
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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