Debris (pilot)
First off, I must warn you, there are minor spoilers in this review. And the trailer below definitely has spoilers. Debris introduces an interesting premise of extraterrestrial objects that manifest different powers that can be used as tools or weapons. The first episode introduces a world where the debris from alien space craft wreckage has been falling to earth for six months since the discovery of it in our solar system two and a half years prior. This has caused the formation of one new partnership between MI-6 and the CIA, named “Orbital”.
MI-6 agent Finola Jones (played by Rian Steele) and CIA agent Bryan Beneventi (played by Jonathan Tucker) are the series leads who have been partnered up to not only investigate the strange occurrences that develop from these fallen objects, but to collect and secure them. As each of them state for different reasons: Finola believes they could be used to cure diseases and end famine; Bryan states they could be used to destroy humanity.
And we find that not only is there “Orbital”, but possibly other factions, groups that have their own agenda in obtaining the debris, which are also being sold via the Black Market and shady secret hotel deals. And there can be dangerous consequences for those that unwittingly and wittingly come in contact with the pieces of this extraterrestrial wreckage.
We do not obtain much backstory about our two main characters, but it is revealed that Finola’s father was(is?) an astrophysicist, one of the first to be made aware of the discovery of the falling alien spaceship wreckage and that she not only lost her mother to a disease, but she lost her father not so recently afterwards, though we are not sure how. Bryan is military(?), with a troubled past. And both agencies are keeping secrets from each other.
The procedural aspect of the show is compelling, as each episode could literally be about anything the writers imagine.
This show is created and written by J.H. Wyman, one of the writers of one of my all-time favorite series Fringe(28 episodes). He is also the creator of the one-season science fiction show Almost Human, starring Karl Urban and Michael Ealy. And you can see Fringe DNA in this show, with some X-files spliced in. Rian Steele, who plays Finola Jones, has had appearances in several science fiction and fantasy shows, such as The Magicians, Legacies, Misfits, and the MCU’s Ant-man and The Wasp. Jonathan Tucker, who plays Bryan Beneventi, has had appearances in The Flash, I-zombie, Charmed, and Once Upon a Time.
As it is a pilot I will reserve final judgement down the future episodes road, but I am intrigued and look forward to seeing where this journey takes us. This show is Rated TV-14 and is available on NBC.
In Retrospect ★★★★☆
