I gave this 3 out of 10, purely because the effects and ship footage were surprisingly good. The only reason I tuned in to the pilot was because of the promising footage in the trailer and the premise.
The Good:
The Bad:
I'm almost tempted to watch another episode, just to see where this goes. There are so many moments when you just sit there thinking to yourself "it would be so much better if this happened, or the character reacted this way, or the writers should have done this instead....". Such a wasted opportunity. Such a mess.
The Good:
- CGI effects were strong for a TV show.
- The set and ship footage looked very good.
- Adam Baldwin is a good actor, despite playing a part that is two dimensional.
The Bad:
- Completely and utterly unrealistic characters with reactions to situations that verge on funny. Whether it's the Captain throwing a tantrum and threatening to throw the scientist's samples off the ship, the Captain holding a fuse to kick start the engine or the first officer finding out that his son is dead - and casually announcing it on the bridge like his team just lost a football match.
- So many wasted opportunities for strong character development and dialogue.
- So many stereotypes in the first five minutes; Asian guy wont put the book down because he's studying, stereotypically hyper-posh English smarty pants scientists, jock token black guy that decides to shoot himself in the head at the drop of a hat.
- Corny "Dude Bro Hero Army Solder" moments were in abundance. Let's take time to put on our pristine white uniforms and have a service for our fallen serviceman, despite the fact that billions are dying, we're on an urgent mission, and a nuke just flew over our heads towards England.
- The captain is a full on moron, acted by someone with the vocal and emotional range of a potato.
- The notion that nowhere in the developed can effectively quarantine important staff, heads of state, military locations and assets is just ludicrous. Where is the rest of the navy? Where are the fuel and supply ships? Where are the island nations and remote US bases? The mind boggles.
I'm almost tempted to watch another episode, just to see where this goes. There are so many moments when you just sit there thinking to yourself "it would be so much better if this happened, or the character reacted this way, or the writers should have done this instead....". Such a wasted opportunity. Such a mess.