Round Two: Touch

Touch: Season 1, Episode 2 “1+1=3” (B-)

Conceptually, this show is pretty cool. In practice, however, it doesn’t work nearly as well, in the tradition of other shows with innovative premises that can’t quite follow up in their execution. This show is excessively reminiscent of “Heroes,” boasting poor writing, cheesy characters and plotlines, and an inexplicable need for subtitles. It’s quite interesting to see how everything connects, with one character suddenly revealed to be related in some way to another, like the mobster’s son and the flight attendant’s father. The singers with the webcam aren’t so connected, however, and it seems strange to have them as the only recurring thread aside from Martin and Jake. The story generally seems rather stale and undeveloped, and the conversations are quite uninteresting. It’s an awfully big coincidence to see another “24” alumnus, Jude Ciccolella, appearing so early in the history of this show as the depressed pawn shop owner, and I’m always pleased to see Blake Shields, from “Sleeper Cell,” though I would have preferred that he had been given a more substantial role than that of the pawn shop thief and peanut vendor. Jake’s quite an impressive boy, and his mastery of numbers is mesmerizing, as he manages to continue to escape Clea’s custody and track down his father, who will do just about anything for him. Hitting a guy with a baseball bat after breaking and entering, even if it’s to save his child, doesn’t seem like a wise idea, and this show is missing one thing more than anything else: consequences.