Pilot Review: Superstition

Superstition (Syfy)
Premiered October 20 at 10pm

I’m trying hard to watch the first episode of every new show, but I’m still not excited by the idea of sampling horror. I opted to skip Amazon’s “Lore” and wasn’t sure about this one. Fortunately, nothing about this show was particularly scary, even if it was pretty disgusting. I’ve never considered myself a member of the target audience for a show like this, and therefore I can only judge its quality based on how it would compare to a show I would enjoy watching. The opening scene of this pilot made it seem like returning soldier Calvin Hastings didn’t know what he was getting himself into, but that was hardly the case. Weird things happen on this show all the time, and people touching coins and then starting to act like snakes aren’t especially out of the ordinary. Mario Van Peebles’ Isaac has quite the presence, though that changed in a big way at the end of the episode. I’m not sure I’ve seen a show where the protagonist has his head cut off by his own son in the first episode, but this show is all about fighting demonic forces that I guess are known to play tricks on the good guys. It’s hard to have a show where there are no rules about what’s possible and believable, but that also leaves the door open for infinite storylines and villains. I’ll say no thank you to the bleak and somewhat freaky darkness, but imagine that those who like the genre will be pleased.

How will it work as a series? Well, I’m not sure if Isaac is gone forever or if he’ll be reanimated or incarnated in some way, but Calvin has some serious stepping up to do either way. The Dredge may be a nemesis going forward, but I assume there will be lots of foes for the Hastings family to fight.
How long will it last? I can barely find any review or ratings data online for this show – I seem to be one of the few who watched it. From what I can interpret of simple numbers, this show didn’t perform as well as the recently-cancelled “Dark Matter” did before its cancellation, which makes me thinks that its days are numbers unless it can resurrect its chances.

Pilot grade: C-