Gone in the Teeth

Dead boring. It's how I felt while enduring Rubicon's pilot. I gave it a chance for two reasons, the government conspiracy and Jessica Collins. I thought the first could be puzzling and intriguing. It wasn't. Using crosswords to hide patterns is so old ! In fact it's not really the idea that was disappointing but its execution as the protagonist's discovery wasn't well filmed in a creative way. It was a non event. It gets worse if you compare the story to masterpieces like CSI: NY's Death House episode and Prison Break. The last's pilot was mind blowing and once you had seen it you instantly wanted to watch its whole season. Before Rubicon and only after a few minutes I already wanted to switch my TV. The pace was so slow ! Even its cliffhanger was boring and didn't make me curious. As for Collins her dual performance as twin sisters in a Ghost Whisperer episode, "Ghost, Interrupted", was convincing but there her role was far too anecdotic. But still she succeeded in making the story more interesting and I wonder about her relationship with the protagonist. Who's the father of her little daughter ? What's her job ? However the decent acting and some immersive gloomy visuals couldn't save the script. Even the editing was questionable and comprehending the events wasn't easy considering the characters weren't properly introduced. To sum things up forget about it and if you feel like dazzling your neurons my advice is to get your hands on Lost or some dusty The X-Files gems.

The Pilot for Rubicon does a great job of setting the mood and the pace for the rest of the season. A word of advice though, it is a pretty slow start, but one that is crucial in the development of it's plot.

The first episode of Rubicon is carefully constructed, and it has a great eye for detail. The thing with a show like this is that it wants the viewer to wait and experience the journey that only Rubicon can offer. For one thing, the Pilot for Rubicon is only the beginning, and by no means should it be the best that it has to offer, simply because as a stand-alone episode, it is not going to attract sole attention. It does a careful job of introducing the characters that will be present throughout the series, and as it goes along in it's first season, the characters will gain a more significant storyline, as will the overall story-arc.

Gone In The Teeth is not perfect, but it does do what a Pilot is supposed to do. It is revealing to the viewer that the best is yet to come, yet still being completely interesting with it's amazing and suspenseful atmosphere and direction. In that way, the Pilot succeeds more so than most Pilots, but you have to give it time to grow, because trust me, it will.