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The Event Season 1 Episode 14

A Message Back

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AIRED: Mar 21, 2011

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8.5

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Episode Summary

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Thomas receives a response from his people and summons Sophia and the sleepers to inform them of the news. Meanwhile, Sean forces Vicky to help him, Martinez deals with Vice President Jarvis' betrayal, and Dempsey continues his plans to acquire aliens for his own experimental purposes.

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Fan Episode Reviews (4)

A Message Back

9.5

By TrueTvWatcher, Apr 09, 2011

A Message Back was a superb episode of The Event. I really enjoyed watching this episode because there was a lot of character and plot development for certain characters, though there wasn't anything that spectacular revealed. This episode was comprised of small and various pieces of information that add to the whole of whats going on in this series. I thought it was great how the Vice President returned and played a rough game of politics. I also thought the suspense and build up of this episode was good because we were able to see a little of the begining. I look forward to watching the next episode of The Event!!!!!!!moreless
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The cold open was pretty great this week, with the surprise assassination at the observatory.

8.0

By colten97, Apr 09, 2011

When I talk about The Event, I feel like the word I say most often is "stupid." And I don't just say "Oh, that show is so stupid," or "Such stupid, illogical things happen in it." I also say "Am I totally stupid for initially and intermittently thinking this could be a good show?" I still don't know the answer to that question, but I must say, after watching "A Message Back"… ugh, I don't know. I give up. I don't know whether The Event is fixable or whether the overhaul that would require would be so massive as to render it a fundamentally different show. I had fun watching this episode, and I thought it was a huge step up from last week, and what more can I ask at this point?

Granted, "A Message Back" required a substantial suspension of disbelief, but what else is new? This was kind of a major request, though. This episode required me to accept that Sean Walker is some kind of primal, badass superhero after the first half of the season's trial by fire. I'm having some trouble with this. This is what I know about Sean Walker: weeping violins childhood, got in a little trouble as a student, everyman and doting boyfriend. Now, of course, the guy has been through quite a bit of nonsensical conflict since we met him. I accept that he's figured out how to use a gun by now. I get that he's pretty pissed off at the people who sucked him into these awful machinations. But teaming up with Vicky to go through the vice president in order to take out a shady billionaire not above killing people and experimenting on children? Sean kept saying "I'm a man with nothing else to lose," and when Jack Bauer would say that, I believed him. When Sean says it, I think "Dude, your girlfriend broke up with you, but there are plenty of other girls out there. Are they half-alien? OK, maybe not, but who needs some complicated alien chick? It's like the title of that movie I've heard of but have never actually seen, Earth Girls are Easy."

But OK, let's go ahead and say Sean's bar fight with that jerk was finally the thing that tapped into his inner Jason Bourne. He tracks down Vicky and leans on her to help him take down Dempsey by first getting to Vice President Jarvis, who just happens to be attending a gala within driving distance. If you were looking for credibility straining scenes, this story delivered in spades. So Sean and Vicky decide in order to get on the list for the event, they can't just hack in and add their names, even with Sean's prodigious hacking skills. They find their marks, then con their way into the hotel room when a just out of the shower Vicky knocks and says she locked herself out and needs to call the front desk. This happens, I presume, because this is a five-star hotel that, as part of its edgy, boutique concept, requires its guests to use communal showers. Or because Vicky is so hot that the gentleman thought it was a good idea to let an almost nude woman into his hotel room, which he was sharing with his wife. Fine.

So they barge in and steal their identities, but when they're finished, Vicky wants to kill them, but Sean isn't quite there yet. He settles for pistol whipping both the man and the woman. So back to Jack Bauer, who the writers are now trying to turn Sean into. Jack would do crazy, borderline character-poisoning stuff all the time, but it was always under the auspices of trying to prevent some horrific, mass casualty event. Sean is trying to, let's see, get revenge against the people who made him break up with his super-hot girlfriend and prevent them from kidnapping more half-man, half-alien moppets? I'm not sure I want him to pistol whip innocent people to achieve that end. At least, not if he's supposed to be the protagonist of this show. After they corner Jarvis at the gala, Vicky armed with some kind of improvised PVC shotgun, he finally admits that Dempsey is somewhere in France. And because of some incredibly inept Secret Service agents, they're able to get away.

There was much more to like about the Martinez story this week, which had a good amount of 24's flavor to it as well. Martinez has had a very David Palmeresque about-face lately, after having his idealism used against him one too many times. Palmer was the last living mensch in season two, but by season three, he had become a Machiavellian hard-ass. Martinez has squished that path into a dozen episodes, which is fine with me, because his insistence on treating an alien invasion like the arrival of cool neighbors with beer was an unbearable liberal cartoon. I much prefer the kill-em-all Martinez, even though Blair Underwood hams it up ever so slightly. In the war room, they lock in on a location for Sophia and Michael, and Martinez is about to order them taken down, having ordered the military to step in with tactical assistance. But in a Bauer-like moment of pitch-perfect instinct, he figures out that by following them, they can find all the EBEs. It's a rare win for Martinez, who has gotten an entire carton of eggs on his face since all this began.

The EBEs, meanwhile, have convened for an emergency meeting to discuss the message sent back from their home planet. Apparently, the situation on their planet is more dire than initially imagined. Their planet's sun will start to supernova soon, and within one year, the planet will be uninhabitable. Even Sophia shows up to hear her son's message, in spite of his multiple attempts to kill her and his massacre of her loyalists at Inostranka. If the entire group believes Thomas, it will effectively change the game for their people. There's no way Sophia could continue preaching patience and diplomacy as their people back home are in a time-sensitive situation. This is an instance in which Jack Bauer tactics start to become excusable. Hell, I'm practically rooting for the hostile aliens at this point.moreless
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Since there is the possibility this show will not be renewed.......

7.5

By DebraMcClure, Apr 09, 2011

I'm looking at the next several episodes to finally show us The Event. We were teased with the possibility of an alien invasion - only to be told in this episode that there wouldn't be enough time for the remaining aliens to come to Earth; since their planet was about to explode. So what will Thomas do next? Meanwhile - Sean wants to find the people responsible for kidnapping Leyla's sister. He feels his best bet is to get to the Vice-President, who he is told is in cahoots with the people who want to steal precious alien DNA, so that they too can double their life-span. This sub-plot is more interesting to me than the whole invasion thing.moreless
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finally, a decent episode

8.5

By isakura, Mar 24, 2011

I find this show bad, terribly bad... i watch it because it is so awful... it's my own mystery science theater 3000... but this episode was good. do not get me wrong... the acting is still just awful... about 75-80% of the acting is bad... but the writing is usually terrible and implausible and predictable... not this week. this week the writing was somewhat solid, with no outlandish scenarios that make you roll back your eyes and scoff out loud. i doubt that even if the writing stays this... well, i wouldnt say good, but incredibly better, i doubt the show will survive a cancellation. i think the few people that were watching and finally gave up will not be back.

hopefully the rest of the season will be this good... it's just a shame we may never know what they meant to do with this show... if they had a real plan...moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Jason Ritter	Sean Walker
Sarah Roemer	Leila Buchanan
Laura Innes	Sophia Maguire
Ian Anthony Dale	Simon Lee
Scott Patterson	Michael Buchanan
Taylor Cole	Vicky Roberts

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Gabrielle Carteris	Diane Geller	Guest Star
Rebecca Lowman	Cynthia Fisk	Guest Star
Gary Weeks	Ted Fisk	Guest Star
Hal Holbrook	James Dempsey	Recurring Role
José Zúñiga	Carlos Geller	Recurring Role
Blue Deckert	General Armbruster	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Bill Smitrovich as Vice President Raymon...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Clifton Collins, Jr. as Thomas on The Ev...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Necar Zadegan as Isabel and Clifton Coll...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Clifton Collins, Jr. as Thomas and Scott...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (4)
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- When Carlos Geller was unpacking the vehicle, he puts down a blue toolbox and red tote bag that then switch position in the next shot.
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- When Vicky and Sean put their photos onto the Fisks' ID, Vicky's photo shows her with her own brunette hair color. However, later she dons a blonde wig to get into the fundraiser, which means the screeners would notice her ID doesn't match her appearance.
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- When Michael and Sophia approach the cathedral, Thomas' lieutenant Devon is standing by the the door, and an Asian man is standing immediately to his left. When the camera cuts to a long shot and Michael and Sophia walk past Devon, the Asian man has disappeared.
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- When Sean and Vicky are pointing the ceramic gun at the vice president, you can clearly see that the pull tabs for the firing pins are toward the front of the gun and are not in a cocked-back position. Sean could have pulled the trigger a hundred times and it would not have fired.
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QUOTES (2)
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- Vicky: So what am I supposed to do when you die?
  Sean: Excuse me?
  Vicky: Well, you're not getting out of this thing alive. Which means eventually my family's information gets released. And it's not just you who dies, It's my mother and my son, too.
  Sean: I guess you'd better figure out a way to keep me alive, then.
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- Vicky: My dad left my mom when I was a kid. I don't even remember him. But I remember my step-dad. he was a real... bastard. He started hitting my mom from pretty much the word "go." It went on like that until one day I had enough. So when he started whaling on my mom, I went to the drawer where I knew he kept his gun. and I took it out... and I shot him.
  Sean: I don't know what to say. I'm--I'm sorry.
  Vicky: Don't be. Cause that whole sob story... I made it up. There's no reason I am the way I am, Walker. I just came out this way.
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NOTES (2)
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- Although credited, Ian Anthony Dale (Simon Lee) does not appear in this episode.
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- International Airdates:
  Canada: March 21, 2011 on Citytv
  UK: March 28, 2011 on Channel 4
  Czech Republic: March 11, 2012 on Prima COOL
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.