{"id":1927,"date":"2014-04-18T14:16:44","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T18:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/~reviewing\/?page_id=1927"},"modified":"2014-04-18T14:16:44","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T18:16:44","slug":"believe-grabs-audiences-attention","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=1927","title":{"rendered":"‘Believe’ grabs audience’s attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted April 18, 2014<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By ASHLEY ZIMMERMAN<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve\u201d is a fast- paced, thrilling and emotional journey that\u2019ll keep viewers on the edge of their seats. This sci-fi fantasy TV show is sure to be another one of J.J. Abram\u2019s (Alias, Lost) hits.<\/p>\n

The show centers around a little girl with special abilities named Bo (Johnny Sequoyah) whose physic gifts could easily be used for mass destruction, in the wrong hands.
\nIn the pilot episode, Bo\u2019s foster parents are killed by the bad guys, leaving her alone and vulnerable.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the good guys come in to save the day, which in this case means freeing a convicted killer who\u2019s about to be executed.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A scene from “Believe.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Tate played by Jake McLaughlin, is the prisoner who takes a deal from Winter (Delroy Lindo) and earns his freedom in exchange for a new babysitting job with high risks.<\/p>\n

Tate, who swears his innocence, has no idea that he\u2019s actually Bo\u2019s biological father, something that is revealed at the end of the pilot. With Bo\u2019s mother dead, he\u2019s the only living relative she has and the one best fitted to protect her.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a bit of a love-hate relationship in the very beginning as Tate resists the idea of getting attached to the young girl and finds her to be stubborn and difficult, by the end of the pilot there\u2019s an obvious father\/daughter-like connection between the two as he finds himself protecting her on instinct and learning to understand her.<\/p>\n

Characters are quickly introduced as we meet Bo first, followed by Tate and Winter. Winter plays a grandfather figure to Bo, as someone who knew her mother and once worked closely with her. Bo\u2019s mother, as it turns out, had the same gifts and was working with an agency to cultivate her gifts in order to protect people.<\/p>\n

Winter, however, left this agency when it became clear they had less than pure motives. Winter\u2019s team consists of a few people who are helping out behind the scenes but the main player besides him is Channing played by Jamie Chung, a feisty and tough woman who\u2019s passionate about protecting Bo.<\/p>\n

Quickly after meeting the cast of characters the audience is thrown into a full blown chase as a dangerous redhead, who has a gun and knows how to use it, is on the hunt for Bo. While Tate is running from the enemy and doing his best to protect the young girl he barely knows, he also struggles to keep her in line as she wanders off on her own.<\/p>\n

Part of Bo\u2019s abilities includes a strong gift of intuition and her empathic nature leads her to people who are struggling. With a mixture of fast-paced action and emotional scenes, this new sci-fi fantasy drama has a lot to offer TV fans, looking for a new fix.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s a bit of meat missing in the pilot as we know very little of the backstory of any of the characters, the show like \u201cLost\u201d and \u201cAlias\u201d seems to be one that will go into backstories more and more with each episode, with the use of flashbacks, fleshing out the characters and their connections to each other.<\/p>\n

Fans of J.J. Abram\u2019s past project Alias will love the similarly fast-paced structure and intense cliffhangers. While the episodes connect, they each have their own mini-story which allows them to stand on their own. But the overarching story of Bo is one viewers will have to keep tuning in for.<\/p>\n

Creators Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n (Gravity) and Markus Friedman have offered up a great new sci-fi \/ fantasy show that will keep lovers of this genre coming back for more. Appealing to fans of shows such as \u201cHeroes\u201d and \u201cAlias\u201d the unexpected twists and turns, excellent acting by the entire cast and gripping storylines, should make this show an instant hit but only time will tell whether it attracts a cult following like \u201cAlias\u201d or receives the kind of mainstream following \u201cHeroes\u201d did.<\/p>\n

The show is attention grabbing, interesting, unusual and heart-warming all at once. And even though sometimes Bo\u2019s abilities are hard to believe, her most impressive superpower is her compassion. The human element of the show, the way Bo helps others and the relationship she\u2019s developing with the man she doesn\u2019t realize is her only living relative, make this show so much more than a typical sci-fi \/ fantasy series.<\/p>\n