Despite the lack of interesting TV shows in my preferred genre this fall season, I’ve still got a few new shows to watch. One is Heroes, which I expect will be cancelled before the end of the year. Another promising show is The Nine, which follows Lost on ABC on Wednesdays. I like Friday Night Lights on Tuesdays on NBC as well.
The Nine takes elements of Prison Break, Lost and 24, three shows that have been my favorites at one time or another. Similar to 24, The Nine is focused on a brief window of time, but unlike 24, the story of what happened in the critical time period is unfolding in flashbacks, not “realtime.”
The Nine is the story of – you guessed it – nine people, mostly from different walks of life, who happen to be caught in a bank at closing time and it’s just their bad luck that two gun-toting chuckleheads decide to stick the place up. From what has been revealed in the three episodes that have aired so far, what was supposed to be a simple armed robbery turns into a hostage situation that lasts over 52 hours. The drama of the show is all about how these ex-hostages reintegrate into the real world. The tension for the audience is the big tease of “Come on already! What really happened in the bank?”
The titular nine are an insurance adjuster, a black bank branch manager and his daughter, a Hispanic teller, a detective with a gambling addiction, a female assistant DA, a surgeon and his hospital social worker girlfriend, and one of the would-be bank robbers. There is also a tenth person – the Hispanic teller’s sister who dies shortly after the SWAT team swoops in on the bank. And there is an eleventh person—the second bank robber who was also shot and whose life hangs in the balance in the hospital. So far I find the female DA to be a stereotypical icy career chick, so there’s zero appeal there. The black bank manager seems okay, but as the story unfolds it looks like his daughter has a touch of Stockholm Syndrome and amnesia about what she did in there. The most appealing character is the quirky number cruncher whom flashbacks reveal to be the hero of the siege. I guess he tackled one of the bank robbers or something.
The first two episodes were okay, but the third episode was boring. It’s too early in the show’s run for that, so they need to be careful. I don’t think this show will make it, but since it has Lost as a lead in, you never know. Invasion sucked but it lasted a full season on the strength of its placement in the schedule.
2 comments:
I agree on your comment on Invasion. It did truly benefit with it's placement behind LOST, but I really liked it. I'll tell you right now, that the NINE better be careful before what's happening to LOST happens to them.
LOST has been leading people on, creating all of these episodes with misdirection and stuff. The NINE will attempt to tease everyone for the entire season and then spring on 'em exactly what happened to each and everybody in the bank during those 2 days as the season finale.
Like yourself, the fired accountant (or whatever he is) is my favorite character, but there really hasn't been that much of a character development angle. They've tried, but not really. I think Heroes though will last a full season and get a second one. I just don't know how much farther the writers can take it from there..
Have you peeped Jericho?
No, is Jericho good? When does it come on?
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