"Believe" to premier on NBC as a mid-season show in 2014
Michael > March 15th, 2014, 08:36 PM
I liked it. I was going to write a full review but I'm afraid I don't have time for that. I have been sick with a cold this week and therefore had to divide my time between working at a sluggish pace and trying to sleep.
Johnny Sequoyah as the little girl ("Bo") is, I think, a perfect choice for this role. She displayed an amazing range of talent in the first episode. If the film industry doesn't screw her up (by getting her involved with drugs and alcohol) this girl should have a great future ahead of her, if she wants to continue acting.
Jake McLaughlin is okay as "Tate". I think he's trying to too hard to be a hard-bitten escaped con. But I am sure he'll figure out what to do with the character in time and people will really love him.
Kyle MacLachlan gets to play a villain in this show. I always liked him but his acting can be uneven. I think he'll do capably with whatever the writers give him but they need to make his character intense and focused.
Delroy Lindo as Winter is just an absolute coup for this production. This guy has so much talent (his performance in "Congo" is out-of-this-world/over-the-top). I have seen him in several other projects and have always enjoyed his work as an actor. If "Believe" is successful he'll be a big part of that success, unless he's just a springboard character. They left it open-ended about how much we'll see him.
The only concern I have at this point is that I fear we'll lose a promising story arc (two, actually) in an episodic mess of adventure-of-the-week scripts. The main story arc -- who Bo is and why people want her so badly -- needs to be developed in the first season. The second story arc -- how Tate and Bo develop a relationship together -- can take a few "off" episodes but should also be consistent.
They need to be a solid team by the end of the first season.
All in all, not a bad first episode. I was afraid it would overdeliver and then we'd be set up for disappointment as the production values decline but I don't think they went for high-cost development on the first episode.
It could still go south in the next episode or two but if they avoid "Bonanza Syndrome" they have a shot at making this a long-lasting and engaging project.