Usually I only like to
review shows that are currently on the air, but considering the fact I’m taking
some time to reflect on the series as a whole before I post my review of the
series finale of Gossip Girl and most of the shows that I typically like to
comment on are currently on a break, I’ve decided to take the time to write a
review for the pilot of Deception; that being said, here are my thoughts on the
pilot.
The main thing that I found
myself thinking about as I was watching the pilot was that the show is
seriously lacking originality in a lot of ways, and I say this because I
thought of at least four different shows that I’ve already seen before as I was
watching the pilot. Those shows would be Revenge, Dirty Sexy Money, The Killing
and Desperate Housewives. I know that some people might think that I’m being a
bit random with some of the shows that I just listed, but those are simply
several of the shows that the pilot of Deception reminded me of in some way.
I’ll try to explain what elements of the pilot made me think of those shows as I
discuss certain elements of the show in my review.
Let me go right ahead and
say that while the pilot didn’t seem all that original to me, there were still
enough things about it to make me want to continue watching Deception once it
premieres on TV. The main thing that I like about Deception is that it features
several actors that I’ve seen in other things and like, namely Victor Garber
and Tate Donovan. The cast also consists of Wes Brown and Ella Rae Peck, both
of whom I’m familiar with, but have mixed feelings about after watching the
pilot. Wes Brown guest-starred in five episodes of 90210 at the beginning of
its fifth and current season. I didn’t really like him on 90210, but that was
pretty much because of the character he played, but Wes Brown and his
character, Julian Bowers, ended up being one of my favorite things about the
pilot, especially when it came to his scenes with Meagan Good, who plays the
protagonist of the show, Joanna Locasto.
I’ve never seen Meagan Good
in anything prior to this show, and I don’t remember hearing of her before
either, but I really liked her in the pilot. In terms of her acting, she
doesn’t come across as being on the same level of amazingness as Sally Field,
but I still think she did a great job in the pilot, and I’m confidant she will
continue to a great job on the show in the future. Here’s a brief side note:
Sally Field is my favorite actress, and she has been my favorite actress ever
since I saw her in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire when I was six years old. For those
of you who might not already know, I’m currently twenty-five years old, but I
digress.
Personally, I thought the
pilot did a great job of setting up the characters and storylines. There are
definitely several potentially interesting storylines based on what I saw. Although,
the pilot definitely felt a little rushed in my opinion. Given the fact that
this is only the first episode, I think I can forgive the writers for making
the episode feel too rushed though. After all, a pilot of a TV show is supposed
to do a lot of things. It’s supposed set up the storylines and the characters
on the show, so networks can decide whether or not it has potential to be a
good show and should be picked up to series. Not only does a pilot have to do
that for the network, it basically has to do the same thing for the viewers at
home too once it premieres on TV. That being said, I’m okay with TV shows being
fast paced, because if they move too slow then the viewers can get bored and
lose interest, causing them to stop watching. The writers really need to be
careful about how fast the storylines move on Deception beyond this episode
though, otherwise they could be completely out of ideas halfway through season
two at the rate the story moved in the pilot, assuming that Deception does well
enough in the ratings to be renewed for a second season.
