With thoughts lingering on the final cryptic moments of the Prison Break season finale, Fox is wasting no time in debuting a new series to fill that lead-in to 24 slot. Now why should I care about this replacement? Fox doesn't exactly have the greatest of track records when it comes to new series; not every new show can be 24, and more often than not they get screwed with and mistreated like Firefly. Anyway, to their credit, Fox has done a good job at hyping up this replacement series as being a big event, an event that has finally been revealed as Drive.

Over the past few months, Fox has gradually ramped up its advertising campaign. The commercials put the spotlight on a wide array of characters involved in a cross country car race. They showed characters that were in it for money, for love, and some more ulterior motives. The ads sucked me in and actually made me excited to see what they had in store.

Drive is a high concept show whose premise has equal potential to be a slice of greatness or an even bigger piece of cheese pie. So far, through three episodes, it is leaning towards the side of greatness. It is a show that has equal parts character, action, and mystery, offering up a variety of bits to appeal to a wide range of people, leading them out of their safe zones and into something a little more exciting.

The show is based on a road race, top secret of course, that is run by a shadowy organization about which noting has been revealed outside of them observing and exerting control over the racers involved. As for the competitors, we are introduced to a number of them, covering all sorts of backgrounds: a landscaper, an astrophyicist, a new mother, an military man and his wife, as well as a man just out of prison and his newly found half-brother. There really isn't anything that could be seen to tie them together, outside of a desire for the $32 million prize at the end.

On the surface it sounds like an interesting hook, but where the show excels is in the characters and their interactions. All of them have a unique story, and each story is being cleverly woven into the show's tapestry. The creators effortlessly slip between characters, never allowing you to lose focus on what the others are doing. Sure, some of the characters are more interesting than others, but the season is young. Another exciting facet is the way that the those who are running the game mess with the characters — they get involved to give them hints, encouragement, or words of warning. It will be interesting to watch as these elements work themselves together.