Past Life

Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired 2/9/10

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Episode Summary

Dr. Kate McGinn and her partner, former detective Price Whatley, help Noah who suffers from repressed memories from a past life. Meanwhile Dr. Malachi Talmadge and Dr. Rishi Karna, McGinn and Whatley go in pursuit of a criminal.

7.7

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Cast & Crew

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Kelli Giddish

Dr. Kate McGinn
Nicholas Bishop

Price Whatley
Richard Schiff

Dr. Malachi Talmadge

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

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Filled with stereotypes and bad writing. Sometimes I wonder if anyone ever reads the stories before they start filming.

2.5

"Terrible"

By estella87, Feb 02, 2011 Report Abuse

This show wasn't all bad, but there were just too many flaws to ignore in order to give the episode a good score.

The story:
A teenage boy has memory flashes of his previous life as a girl and remembers how he(she) and his(her) sister were abducted (and how he drowned). In the end the past-life-team is able to find the perpetrator and the other girl with the help of the families and the FBI.

The protagonists:
Kelli Giddish as Dr. Kate McGinn was awful. You could feel that the actress did not believe anything she said when she confronted the boy about the whole past-life experience. I think I even saw her roll her eyes once and she was trying really hard not to look directly into the cameras. And the extensive flirting with that Price character felt wrong, but at least it looked like she really has a crush on him (though I'm not sure that's what the writers intended).

There were so many things in this episode I could criticize I don't even know where to start. Maybe I'll just skip to the part where they told the parents that because of a flashback of a boy that showed her being alive 14(!) years ago they think she's still alive. Funny enough when they storm the bad guy's house they find a girl and automatically assume that it must be the missing girl and call the parents who flash her with a foto while the poor girl still thinks that her Dad has been taken into custody by the FBI. Not traumatized enough yet? Come meet the boy who has your dead-sister's memories. Now our job is done.

The final scene had nice music playing in the background and the scenery with the sunset was really beautiful. Unfortunately the dialogue between Kare and Price ruined it.

This show has potential and I'm going to watch another few episodes because I think the topic itself is interesting and promising and I want to see where the story goes but the first episode was a complete let-down.moreless

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3 1
When a young teenager has flash backs or past life regressions after seeing a number of medical people the family approaches an institute that deals with this. A Doctor and Private Eye who work together to put together the pieces of the past life.moreless

8.0

"Great"

By jyarter, Feb 21, 2010 Report Abuse

Well I waited a week or so before I saw this Pilot episode and found out yesterday the show has already been canceled. Talk about a quick trigger! There's no one like FOX and The CW for either letting a show be drawn out to death or killing it immediately.

At least the science in this is better than in one of FOX's other current shows Lie To Me. Here we're dealing with something that not only has a basis in science study, but also has it basis in religious teachings as well. So the premise could be sound. One of the things you must deal with in this is the skeptics and I'm sure that would be a big problem with a subject like this. Sort of like the problem with Witches on a show like Eastwick, but more in the direction of this is not real as I don't believe in it. So my rant related to that is done! :)

As far as the Pilot is concerned, the show had some potential. The main characters were a little stock, but definitely interesting. Especially the Private Detective former Policeman. The case was fairly spectacular and I did find the conclusions they came to a little far fetched. It's like they left out a few months of detective work and jumped right to Washington DC from New York City. That was strange.

So even though it's already canceled I found this an enjoyable hour of entertaining television. I think they had to work a little harder on the stories, but I see where the interest from the Pilot came from that made them move forward with production. Thanks for reading...moreless

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Hunky ex-cop with a past teams with beautiful female doctor to solve an age old murder/disappearance. Sound familiar?

2.0

"Terrible"

By Ritzik, Feb 12, 2010 Report Abuse

Wow, what a stinker. Do we really need another gimmick show with the hunky, wise ass guy/cop with a past - teamed with the beautiful partner? It was sickening to watch the supposedly brilliant Dr. McGinn make googly eyes at Whatley for an hour. At least the kid in the supporting role did a terrific job. It was a nice distraction from the other stiff performances and clunky dialogue. The entire show seemed very forced and repetitive as if rushed into production. Maybe this one has a past life based upon the derivative nature of the script, but it certainly has no future.moreless

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2 3
Are they talking about Deja vu?

8.5

"Great"

By Pink90210, Feb 11, 2010 Report Abuse

that's what i came to understand after watching the pilot. Well not all people knows about these things/ care/believe, and i'm with the don't believe type. I don't ignore that sometimes i experience Dejavu but i don't Necessarily care.

About this show, it somehow reminds me of the forgotten(people who aren't detective shouldn't play detectives), but this one is different, more believable considering the subject they're tackling, and here is the irony, I'm liking it. I like the Dr. Kate's attitude about the subject and i like her acting, the way she carries the character, making her seem a bit vague and full of surprises. I like the former detective as well, I read posts about not seeing a chemistry between them, or that there is no, well, we haven't seen any yet! As for the guy who played the FBI agent, he's so good, his character is so believable, I donno but I really felt like he's a real agent. I'm looking forward to see more about this show, I can't judge it more yet, I'm just giving it good rating casue FOX is a cutter and if they canceled the show early then we stuck with nothing but the waiting of Fringe to come back.moreless

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2 2
Well, the good news first: it can only get better. Now the bad: because it can't get much worse than this.

2.0

"Terrible"

By slkrebs, Feb 10, 2010 Report Abuse

First off: I believe in past lives. So I was *really* looking forward to this. About five minutes into the show, I was starting to have my doubts. Still, I figured it's the pilot, so I decided to cut it some slack.

But my patience was sorely tried as the story progressed, and I was constantly thinking of The Forgotten with Christian Slater. Lighting, ambience, even the female lead looked right at home in that show. But, Richard Schiff's in it as well, you say? Why, yes, only, they seem to have forgotten that he's this great actor of West Wing fame, well-deserving of a better part than the one he had in this pilot episode. The main thing that bothers me is that the premise of the show: past lives and regression are treated as a spectacle. While you might have flashes of a previous life, you don't go traipsing about all over the place to trigger more memories - you sit down, and have a proper regression. I'm thinking In Treatment here, not CSI Mental City, ok? We got enough of those shows already. So, first one's a total miss, even if the characters might turn interesting in a half-dozen episodes or so. For now, I'm sticking around, hoping to see more of Richard Schiff.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- To research the role, Kelli Giddish who plays Dr. Kate McGinn had a past-life regression reading done. "It was like having a stenographer for your dreams. And I found out I was a fruit picker in the old South. And then I was an Alaskan boy," Giddish says. Edit
- Past Life was inspired by "The Reincarnationist," a crime thriller whose main character, Josh Ryder, solves a 21st century crime with memories and clues from his past life in ancient Rome. Edit
Notes
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- Original International Air Dates: Canada: February 9, 2010 on A Edit
- Music 42 by Coldplay. Edit
Quotes
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- Kate: The clues are there, you just need to know where to look. Edit
- Kate: The idea of reincarnation is that we've all been here before, and we have memories of past lives. Edit
- Kate: The greater the doubt, the greater the awakening. Price: Wow, that's pretty profound for being up all night. Kate: It's Einstein; I saw it on a bumper sticker once. Edit
Allusions
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