...which is to say, if this somewhat promising series hadn't had the plug pulled on it before even a single season had aired.
My brother turned me on to this one courtesy of the spiffy 4DVD set from Paramount/CBS, and his recommendation was certainly a point in its favor, but I can't say that "Threshold" will be a repeat viewing favorite. The premiere episode was well done, very promising in a high-tech "Amazing Stories" sort of way, but as the series unfolded, I found myself increasingly frustrated with the limitations and demands of serial commercial presentation. This could well be a reflection of the weaknesses of creativity by committee, or more simply the fault of the premise itself.
This is not to imply that the series was bad; far from it. The concept was reasonably solid, if somewhat derivative (but what isn't these days?): alien invasion via genetic manipulation, complicated by spreading the "infection" via multiple vectors, all of this told primarily from the viewpoint of a top-secret think tank assembled to deal with just such a contingency. Take a little "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," mix in elements of "The Invaders," John Carpenter's "The Thing," and "The X-Files," season with a generous helping of decent actors and quality production values, and you have "Threshold." Unfortunately, it didn't quite work. The cancellation of the series was certainly less of a surprise than that of, say, "Firefly," another (much better) short-lived sci-fi series.
I think the problem was that the creators of "Threshold" couldn't decide if their show was to be character-driven or idea-driven, and as a result, it wavered between both to the detriment of both. The leads are reasonably engaging actors, but the writing fails to establish them as anything much beyond typical TV stereotypes, with the possible exception of Peter "The Station Agent" Dinklage and esteemed stage and screen character actor, Charles S. Dutton. Carla "Spin City" Gugino is somewhat unbelievable as the hyper-intelligent theorizer, although she does her best with what she's given by the scriptwriters. Brent "Star Trek" Spiner reprises his Data persona sans funky make-up, Rob "Felicity" Benedict tackles the computer geek role, and Brian "Black Hawk Down" Van Holt provides the black ops muscle. Unfortunately, they all add up to less than the sum of their parts.
The writers are careful to not reveal too much too quickly, but also fail to reveal enough of consistent substance. And they cheat. Case in point is the premiere-ending image of a city full of traffic arrayed in the shape of the signature alien fractal. It runs completely counter to the premise of alien infection; it simply hasn't spread that far yet. One of the featurettes on the DVD even admits this.
I watched all thirteen episodes over the course of about three days, including extras. I don't feel that my time was wasted, but I also know that I won't be returning to the show anytime soon, nor am I overly heartbroken that it died at the relentless imperative of Nielsen. "Threshold" just wasn't as smart as it wanted to be.
My brother turned me on to this one courtesy of the spiffy 4DVD set from Paramount/CBS, and his recommendation was certainly a point in its favor, but I can't say that "Threshold" will be a repeat viewing favorite. The premiere episode was well done, very promising in a high-tech "Amazing Stories" sort of way, but as the series unfolded, I found myself increasingly frustrated with the limitations and demands of serial commercial presentation. This could well be a reflection of the weaknesses of creativity by committee, or more simply the fault of the premise itself.
This is not to imply that the series was bad; far from it. The concept was reasonably solid, if somewhat derivative (but what isn't these days?): alien invasion via genetic manipulation, complicated by spreading the "infection" via multiple vectors, all of this told primarily from the viewpoint of a top-secret think tank assembled to deal with just such a contingency. Take a little "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," mix in elements of "The Invaders," John Carpenter's "The Thing," and "The X-Files," season with a generous helping of decent actors and quality production values, and you have "Threshold." Unfortunately, it didn't quite work. The cancellation of the series was certainly less of a surprise than that of, say, "Firefly," another (much better) short-lived sci-fi series.
I think the problem was that the creators of "Threshold" couldn't decide if their show was to be character-driven or idea-driven, and as a result, it wavered between both to the detriment of both. The leads are reasonably engaging actors, but the writing fails to establish them as anything much beyond typical TV stereotypes, with the possible exception of Peter "The Station Agent" Dinklage and esteemed stage and screen character actor, Charles S. Dutton. Carla "Spin City" Gugino is somewhat unbelievable as the hyper-intelligent theorizer, although she does her best with what she's given by the scriptwriters. Brent "Star Trek" Spiner reprises his Data persona sans funky make-up, Rob "Felicity" Benedict tackles the computer geek role, and Brian "Black Hawk Down" Van Holt provides the black ops muscle. Unfortunately, they all add up to less than the sum of their parts.
The writers are careful to not reveal too much too quickly, but also fail to reveal enough of consistent substance. And they cheat. Case in point is the premiere-ending image of a city full of traffic arrayed in the shape of the signature alien fractal. It runs completely counter to the premise of alien infection; it simply hasn't spread that far yet. One of the featurettes on the DVD even admits this.
I watched all thirteen episodes over the course of about three days, including extras. I don't feel that my time was wasted, but I also know that I won't be returning to the show anytime soon, nor am I overly heartbroken that it died at the relentless imperative of Nielsen. "Threshold" just wasn't as smart as it wanted to be.