What I’m Watching: The Event

The Event: Season 1, Episode 15 “Face Off” (F)

I think there was a certain point early on in this show’s run where I stopped believing anything that was happening, which of course leads me to take a rather negative and pessimistic stance on its potential for quality in the future. Yet when this show continues to presuppose stark characterization changes on a nearly episodic basis, it’s hard to argue in favor of this show’s coherence, clarity, and competence. Thomas’ decision to murder a good portion of his people who expressed their loyalty to Sophia was a decently believable twist, but to have both him and Sophia drop everything and forget all of their agreements for the common good of their people is not. The hatchet simply can’t be buried that quickly, and there’s no way that Thomas would have sacrificed his life so that his mother could lead their people. That also means that the anti-Sophia rhetoric expressed by Thomas’ girlfriend was just a red herring, leading to nothing interesting at all considering she’s now dead. Additionally, there was no reason for Sophia to kill innocent people by demolishing the Washington Monument, and even in light of that, Martinez’s command to fire on the buses feels like cold-blooded murder more than anything else. It serves him right to look appalled and confused out of his mind when the final bus started getting pulled into the portal. There were plenty of weird close-ups on Martinez, Blake, and Michael in this episode that just aren’t needed. Cave drawings are never a good avenue to pursue, and must Leila wander around just to cause trouble? All I have to say about Sean’s plotline is that Vicky is not a sympathetic character, and this show needs to stop trying to turn her into one.