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.
Article comments
1 - Ian Woolstencroft
Great review Chris.
I had high hopes for this series and I haven't been disappointed.
I'd say it has more in common with Heroes than the other shows you mention with Alex Tully standing out because -
a) He is by far the coolest character (particularly after episode 3)
b) He's played by Nathan Fillion.
I mean could anyone imagine 24 without Kiefer? The same isn't true of Drive, without Fillion it would still work. Its a whole lot more fun with him in though.
2 - Kaonashi
I'm glad you guys wrote up about this show, because I was too lazy to do so :)
I have hopes for Drive. I don't expect it to be the new Lost or Heroes, but the premise is interesting enough.