THE EVENT was a short run one season show of 22 episodes from 2010-2011. It was a combination of political thriller, action, SF-similar to the vein of the V series. It focusedson a group of aliens whose ship crashed in Alaska at the end of World War II. They look mostly human, though they age much slower, which is why in present day every looks pretty much in their 20’s and 30’s. Most are held hostage; though a few escape and blend into the local population. President Martinez (Blair Underwood) plans to disclose the existence of the aliens to the world and let them live among us but their is a assignation attempt, political machinations, a split among the aliens etc. etc. Main characters include Simon Lee (Ian Anthony Dale) a CIA operative and secret alien; Sophia Maguire (Laura Innes) the leader of the aliens in Alaska; and a romantic subplot between centering around a computer guy, Sean,  whose girlfriend, Leila, is kidnapped and it turns out she’s half-alien.

There are a host of recurring cast members and conspiracy subplots. Maybe too many. It has some strong performances yet for me something was missing. Most of the complaints (online) were about the series’ use of flashbacks to convey information; many viewers found it confusing. I did not find it confusing as much as I found it distracting. For me, flashbacks are most effective when I am already emotionally invested in the characters which I wasn’t quite so early in the show. And the characters were uneven-the president, his wife, Sophia, and the CIA alien guy peaked my interest; the love story of Leila and Sean a bit plodding. And sometimes the flashbacks didn’t reveal anything to the overarching plot, which I assume, is the assassination conspiracy. Although that was not clear either.

There seemed to be bits and pieces of conspiracy thriller, political thriller, action, alien infiltration from a million different shows (V mixed with 24 and a sprinkle of West Wing and a nod to X-Files) without a clear idea of where it was going. I didn’t hate the show, but I grew frustrated with the lack of payoff. And that is a shame, because some of the actors were quite good. And if it was to be an SF show it needed to be a bit more SF-ish. The aliens look, think, act human-just live long. I didn’t expect V lizard people but I wanted something. To be fair, maybe there was more in the works but it was cancelled after one season.

So Smart Girls Readers, anyone remember THE EVENT? What do you think of the whole alien government conspiracy genre? Is is just overdone?