Defying Gravity

A video clip featuring Ron Livingston convinced me to learn more about Defying Gravity. I only saw him in Office Space but his character and performance were so great that I just couldn't resist. However when I read on Wikipedia « The series was pitched to networks as "Grey's Anatomy in space." » my expectations went straight from high to low. Of course after watching the clip it was obvious the show wouldn't be as deep and smart as Virtuality, considering the number of babes running around and the sexist jokes, but when it comes to science fiction fans are not accustomed to deal with Desperate relationships and stereotyped characters. But I decided to give it a chance anyway because some elements intrigued me.



First I thought it would deal with reality-based productions but it doesn't as the lives of the astronauts are only recorded and used to produce a documentary. But it's not a problem as Virtuality already and brilliantly covered the subject. Second the libido-controlling device should lead to quite interesting twists. As a human being I find the idea horrific and just thinking about how some poor animals are butchered make me sick. However it seems the writers have decided to cover the issue and things don't seem as simple as the technology would like it to be. Humans are not objects, we have feelings. In general many other philosophical topics and issues are also covered. For example the eternal battle between destiny and free will, rationality and spirituality. The scenes weren't perfect but at least they were interesting and one ensemble character, an indian, was well used. In fact he reminded me of the one in Heroes. We don't share the same believes but if you keep an open mind and forgive the over the top elements you should enjoy them. Abortion was also covered and it worries me a little because I hope the show is not sponsored by some organization trying to brainwash our minds with their one-sided ideas. Moreover the writers' opinion is obvious considering how the issue is mixed with the story. Other subjects like after life, control and teamwork are also covered. So to sum things up all these elements demonstrate that the show has potential. Moreover Livingston's performance was quite convincing even if his character attitude reminded me of Tom Cruise's characters in his younger days.



However the sci-fi elements are just excuses to make us believe that it's not yet an other drama. Defying Gravity is definitely ER in space. The visual effects are not cheap but definitely not great, the spaceship design is not inspiring and the writers chose the easy way when it comes to deal with zero gravity for example. But I have to admit that the big secret behind their mission is quite intriguing. Many events occurred related to it but for the moment we don't know what it is. I already read the next episode summary, Natural Selection, and it seems it'll revealed in it. Moreover both episodes were aired the same day so I suppose they should be considered as a single pilot episode. So even if I found the usual subliminal YouTube advertisements annoying and the slow motion scenes pathetic I have decided to give it one more chance.

Mm... considering this is a pilot.. I am not sure. I cannot say it was brilliant but it wasn't bad either. I think I am that kind of person who likes sci-fi and little drama added to it, why not. So, I think I am going to watch it couple of more episodes and probably more but I am not sure this show can survive in network like that. Ofcourse I am not sure where the show is going - will it be just drama and relationship thing or will there be sci-fi aspects more? That first episode did not gave that answer but for sure it gave something to expect - the big "secret" or thing.. what is that, how it affects and why it affects the crew.



Anyway, I really think that show can be exciting and who knows, maybe they can work it out. I am not expecting any hit or so, but that episode was quite ok.

Defying Gravity was boring and the acting was awful and worse than most daytime soaps, used too many clichés as someone previously stated, in addition, there was the cute but annoying Mexican girl who threw in unrealistic Spanish in for no reason (look at tvtropes.org under "Gratuitous Foreign Language"), even if in the future Spanish becomes more of a major language, it's still completely ridiculous if the girl speaks English (almost) perfectly, and yet she's speaking random Spanish words to everyone else whose common language is obviously English, it's just complete Hollywood bullcrap and unrealistic, Spanish speakers if they speak English, they're not gonna speak in random Spanish to "gringos" who won't understand what they're saying, it was so stupid and just one of the many things wrong with this show. Also those corny musical sequences, how about replacing those moments with actual good and interesting dialogue?

It is difficult to summarize how bad this show is and its numerous flaws but I will try...



01. Most of the crew are infantile idiots who would never make it through astronaut training.



02. Decrepit character development.



03. The plot CRAWLS with no explanation of the causes of random "action/drama" events.



04. Not a bit of science or explanation of how any of the ship system work or function. (The MTV demographic chooses not to think about such things.)



05. After the the second episode we still have no idea what "IT" is and if I see where this is going, viewers will have absolutely no clue what "IT" is until maybe episode 30. I really think that the title for this series is a misnomer. The real title for this series should have been "Lost 2" or even better "Lost In Space".

This pilot offers our first look at the crew of the Antares and the people that will guide their mission from Earth. There are several flashbacks to 2 different times used to give us some background into the characters. The first being 10 years ago, in 2042, when Donner and Shaw were forced by Goss to leave 2 other members of crew behind on Mars, presumably to die. One of these abandoned crew members was Donner's wife/partner judging from the photos we see of the 2 of them. The second flashback is when the training for the Antares mission began 5 years ago and the new cadets met the old hands, Donner and Shaw. Now Goss is in charge causing plenty of friction between himself and Donner. In 'present day' 2052 Donner and Shaw are not part of the team leaving on a 6 year mission to all 7 planets which Donner believes is due to what happened on Mars. There are also several allusions through secret meetings and vague chats between Goss and Shaw's wife (who is one of the people in charge) regarding a secret aspect to the mission, either something they are carrying on board or something they will encounter I believe. Shaw and Donner are told suddenly that they will be on the mission to replace 2 crew members who mysteriously now have heart conditions. As a result Shaw is told the truth about the mission and we discover the other crew members will not be told until they are over a month into the mission when it will be too late to opt out. We also observe an attraction between Donner and Barnes and later learn that they were going out at one point and allegedly Donner could have had a child with Barnes. Couples seem to be a theme in the group as Rollie and Jen are married but will now be separated for 6 years and Jen may have also dated Shaw who is now married to the boss. It is also interesting to hear references to some harsh rules such as required vasectomies and the conversation between Jen and Zoe regarding unwanted pregnancies and the suggestion that abortion is now illegal. I think this series offers promise and it will be interesting to see where they take it.

A really nice send off Pilot of a new series on ABC. Ron Livingston, Laura Harris, and Christine Cox star in the story of eight astronauts that are involved in a manned mission aboard the Antares to visit a number of planets in our solar system over a six year period.



Maddux Donner (Livingston) and Ted Shaw (Malik Yoba) were part of a manned mission to Mars ten years earlier and because of severe weather and a short window of escape were ordered to leave two fellow astronauts behind to die. It was the difference between a failed and successful mission but you get the feeling that Donner has never rectified the decision in his mind even though it was a direct order.



There is some deep dark secret that obviously is only known to the mission commander and to those behind closed doors running the mission. Something about an entity? They are very unclear but promise all will be revealed to the rest of the space travelers within the first two months of the mission.



This looks like it should be a fun show with a lot of possibilities. Space is dangerous of course but if you think about our space program we have only lost a small percentage of the astronauts in two accidents over the last forty plus years. I only hope this show is not a setup for killing off the crew slowly but surely. It seems that there will be risks in this mission. Thanks for reading...