What I’m Watching: The Event

The Event: Season 1, Episode 19 “Us or Them” (F)

Ah, this misguided show. It’s so concerned with presenting us semantics that aren’t interesting at all that it’s nearly completely lost sight of its larger picture. My main complaint with this episode is something I’ve felt very strongly about since season two of “24.” Presidents should not be main characters on shows unless the show is strictly about the Oval Office. Giving Jarvis a cell phone and having him be so involved with Sophia is embarrassing and lazy, and doesn’t appear to be meant to be taken seriously. Having him call off the military escort for the plane is just the latest preposterous, all-too-obvious action taken by the impossibly dumb man who’s going to seriously screw the American people to help logic and intelligence prevail. Blake, by playing his hand in the middle of the night, is all but powerless at this point. Vicky’s sudden affection for Sean is so completely inconvenient and ill-timed, and was somehow more unwatchable than their last-minute international flight (again, where does this budget come from?), complete with drug dealers and people using their real names for no apparent reason despite deceptive genders. The final development of the episode is absolutely pointless, since Michael never did all that much except screw up and snap people’s necks as a character, and now we’re expected to believe that Leila’s newfound hatred of Sophia could somehow help her take the alien queen down as Simon singlehandedly saves the human race. Frequent neck-snapper Michael could have avoided such quick pursuit by continuing his trend and killing Carlos rather than leaving him alive.