Just finished a marathon run of this series (at only 13 episodes, it wasn't exactly a challenge) after a friend recommended it to me.
I must say that the pilot and first two episodes were gripping, tightly written and showed great potential, but mid-way through the season the plot just gets too muddled, as if the writers were trying to utilize every twist in their bag in as short a time period as possible - I'm sure NBC's mid-season cancellation of the series probably has something to do with it.
It's actually a pretty interesting premise but unfortunately it's let down by shoddy pacing, the twist-a-minute approach quickly saps out any emotional weight from the story and becomes increasingly absurd. The twists sometimes rely on lazy storytelling devices (such as the Chinese kid's mom revealing out of nowhere that she's a secret spy) or implausible situations (like most of the parents' drastic actions), but since this is a TV thriller after all it would be fine and well it there was a payoff to it but there simply isn't - even when one of the main characters kills off a student hostage, it lacks the emotional impact that it should have and feels like a rushed explanation to sprint towards the conclusion.
The acting - except for Dermot Mulroney's troubled portrayal of the morally ambiguous anti-hero father Francis Gibson - is also mediocre, and Agent Finley for some reason reminded me of Chris Tucker's character from Rush Hour (if he was transplanted in a political thriller). Likewise, the characters (except for perhaps Francis Gibson) are also largely one-dimensional, unengaging and unconvincing.
Worse still, the story rapidly veers off from what made it engaging in the first place (the hostage students) to a convoluted political thriller involving the CIA, shady corporates, powerful unknown people not limited by seemingly anything and governments. It reminded me of Prison Break in that sense (and the choppy acting, too).
Fortunately, it's only 13 episodes and the first few episodes are suspenseful enough to make you want to see how it ends (hint: not very neatly and a bit open-ended), but had NBC not cancelled it (along with a bunch of other programs) I'm sure it would have been a pretty good thriller drama.
I must say that the pilot and first two episodes were gripping, tightly written and showed great potential, but mid-way through the season the plot just gets too muddled, as if the writers were trying to utilize every twist in their bag in as short a time period as possible - I'm sure NBC's mid-season cancellation of the series probably has something to do with it.
It's actually a pretty interesting premise but unfortunately it's let down by shoddy pacing, the twist-a-minute approach quickly saps out any emotional weight from the story and becomes increasingly absurd. The twists sometimes rely on lazy storytelling devices (such as the Chinese kid's mom revealing out of nowhere that she's a secret spy) or implausible situations (like most of the parents' drastic actions), but since this is a TV thriller after all it would be fine and well it there was a payoff to it but there simply isn't - even when one of the main characters kills off a student hostage, it lacks the emotional impact that it should have and feels like a rushed explanation to sprint towards the conclusion.
The acting - except for Dermot Mulroney's troubled portrayal of the morally ambiguous anti-hero father Francis Gibson - is also mediocre, and Agent Finley for some reason reminded me of Chris Tucker's character from Rush Hour (if he was transplanted in a political thriller). Likewise, the characters (except for perhaps Francis Gibson) are also largely one-dimensional, unengaging and unconvincing.
Worse still, the story rapidly veers off from what made it engaging in the first place (the hostage students) to a convoluted political thriller involving the CIA, shady corporates, powerful unknown people not limited by seemingly anything and governments. It reminded me of Prison Break in that sense (and the choppy acting, too).
Fortunately, it's only 13 episodes and the first few episodes are suspenseful enough to make you want to see how it ends (hint: not very neatly and a bit open-ended), but had NBC not cancelled it (along with a bunch of other programs) I'm sure it would have been a pretty good thriller drama.