I have to start by thanking Meghan of meghanwritesanovel.blogspot.com for urging me to give up No Ordinary Family and watch The Event.

Warning (but not really): I’m now going to rant and give some of the first and second episode secrets away, so if you haven’t watched and already plan to and want total surprise, then stop reading.

Advertisements must attract the target audience to be effective.
Okay, my rant is that I would not have hesitated to watch The Event if they had just revealed a little more of what this story is about in the advertisement. No, I don’t like movie ads that give away the whole story, but TV is different. It is okay to give away what the show is about because the enjoyment is watching weekly stories unfold. Maybe you shouldn’t give away the entire season arc, but you do want to attract your audience. How many forensic murder procedural fans would have watched the first episode of Bones if the ads had said the show was about an anthropologist at the Smithsonian and her team of geeky scientists—no mention of the FBI or murders? From the advertisements, all I knew was The Event was about a government conspiracy. Did everyone else read ETs into that?

Is The Event worth watching?
The first episode does use the weird timeline I’d been worried about. Start in the present, then go back fifteen minutes, then go back five days, five months, five years, and back to the present. Despite the unpredictable time jumps the story flowed and made sense. It was clear why we were going back to different time frames and the flashbacks were key to uncovering the conspiracy and developing the character relationships. As Meghan promised, most of the key elements were explained by the end of the second episode and the time shifts were minimized. I’ve watched all episodes currently available on hulu.com and was pleased to see that the arc included a pretty awesome romantic element. The main character’s girlfriend was kidnapped and he was trying to save her. There were plenty of relatable characters to grab onto, enough plot and character surprises to keep things interesting, and an underdog hero to ad that heartwarming (in a non-sappy way) edge.

If you are still debating on trying The Event, I urge you to give it a watch while the early episodes are still available.  This is definitely one you need to start at the beginning.