Acclaimed director of last year’s award-winning film “Gravity,” Alfonso Cuarón seems like he might be floating into greatness with his latest television project “Believe.”
With the help of executive producer J.J. Abrams, Cuarón’s new series feels more like a film than a television show.
The pilot episode has the signature Cuarón touch, and begins the series by utilizing a long continuous shot from the inside and then outside of a car, followed by an intense car crash and assasination scene that results in the death of the protagonist’s parents. It’s important to note this happens in one continuous shot, a cinematographic technique that intensifies the scene.
Bo has paranormal abilities she cannot fully understand or control, and she is therefore a target. A man named Tate (Jake McLaughlin) who happens to be Bo’s biological father is assigned to protect her.
While Tate is initially reluctant to be her protector, he feels a special bond with Bo, though he is more often just annoyed by her. It makes for an action packed, but also somewhat humorous hour of television.
The show shares common characteristics with the short-lived cult sci-fi series “Firefly.” Both series have a female protagonist with a powerful but uncontrollable superpower and psychic abilities.
In the series, each protagonist is chased by entities that either want to control or harness their power. This similar plot makes me wonder if we can have faith in the originality of “Believe.”
Cult television shows like “Firefly,” “Arrested Development,” and “Twin Peaks” are great, but they often end too soon. There is always that risk of a television show becoming too obscure and then failing to appeal to an audience. “Believe,” like many cult series, seems to have great potential; it just needs to be given a chance.
You can see it and believe it for yourself Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on NBC.