There's so many problems with this failed NBC series it's a wonder it ever made it to pilot stage.
First off, the casting is wrong. Jason Ritter isn't able to pull off the lead role. Sarah Roemer is terrible. Blair Underwood doesn't make a convincing president. It goes on and on.
Second, you need a strong villain. Sophia isn't it. She isn't even a villain until we're halfway through. Without a strong villain driving the plot, the story drastically sags and interest starts to drop about four episodes in.
Third, revealing the alien angle early kills the mystery and without mystery, serials like this fall flat fast. The bulk of the series is simply boring. Without the strong leads, we stop caring what happens. Without a strong villain, the plot loses urgency.
The worst thing about the series though is the ending. You need a huge cliffhanger. Instead, we're given a speech about the arrival of the aliens which has already been set in motion two episodes back. You cannot spread a weak ending like this throughout three episodes and then not show it.
The entire subplot about Hal Holbrook's character is weak. The conflict inherent in the rebellion by Sophia's son goes nowhere since Sophia takes up his cause once he's dead. Vicky falling in love with Ritter comes out of left field and doesn't make any kind of sense. The vice-president trying to poison the president isn't dramatic.
It's hard to find any likeable elements in this series.
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