I watched "Emergence" all the way through, on its recent run on UK TV, understanding that it was likely cancelled already, a fact that was confirmed around two thirds of the way through. If I'm honest, although I did enjoy some aspects of the story, at just thirteen episodes the premise was already stretched to breaking point.
Jo Evans (Allison Tolman) police chief of a small coastal town, responds to a crash of a light aircraft and discovers a young girl, hiding nearby, who seems to have been in the plane but is completely unharmed. She takes Piper (Alexa Swinton) back to the Station but senses something is amiss with a couple that appear to collect her. Chief Evans ends up taking Piper home, and making her part of the family, but the secrets about Piper history make a her target for several individuals and organisations.
I feel like a show like this gets made every year at the moment, high concept, expensive pilot but unable to really touch the zeitgeist enough to make a lasting impression. "Emergence" very much is that. It's alright, but nothing more - it soon became something you could watch whilst looking at your phone and not miss anything too important that you couldn't catch up and, though I won't spoil the bigger premise of the show here, as I said, I think that they had already tapped out most of the story by the season's conclusion.
The primary reason I stuck with the show though was the cast. Tolman is great, as she was in the season of "Fargo" that she did, she sparks well with Donald Faison, who plays her ex-husband and Enver Gjokaj, who joins for the second half of the run as an FBI agent. Clancy Brown is as magnificent as always as Tolman's father too.
It's just all a bit too played out, and stretched too thin to maintain much interest.
Jo Evans (Allison Tolman) police chief of a small coastal town, responds to a crash of a light aircraft and discovers a young girl, hiding nearby, who seems to have been in the plane but is completely unharmed. She takes Piper (Alexa Swinton) back to the Station but senses something is amiss with a couple that appear to collect her. Chief Evans ends up taking Piper home, and making her part of the family, but the secrets about Piper history make a her target for several individuals and organisations.
I feel like a show like this gets made every year at the moment, high concept, expensive pilot but unable to really touch the zeitgeist enough to make a lasting impression. "Emergence" very much is that. It's alright, but nothing more - it soon became something you could watch whilst looking at your phone and not miss anything too important that you couldn't catch up and, though I won't spoil the bigger premise of the show here, as I said, I think that they had already tapped out most of the story by the season's conclusion.
The primary reason I stuck with the show though was the cast. Tolman is great, as she was in the season of "Fargo" that she did, she sparks well with Donald Faison, who plays her ex-husband and Enver Gjokaj, who joins for the second half of the run as an FBI agent. Clancy Brown is as magnificent as always as Tolman's father too.
It's just all a bit too played out, and stretched too thin to maintain much interest.