The Passage - FOX - US pace (**Spoilers**)

Agent Coulson

Starts next Monday.

Based on the novel series of the same name by Justin Cronin

The Passage focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all disease, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race.

MayoForSam

I liked the 3 books but it appears that the TV show diverges from the original story somewhat, this one still has some great potential if its done right. But remember this is a Fox show.....

Agent Coulson

I really enjoyed that pilot.


The kid is awesome.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

Why did Zach Morris decide to surrender then try to escape, it was so contrived

EoinMcLovin

Kori Wooden Luck wrote: »

Why did Zach Morris decide to surrender then try to escape, it was so contrived

I think it’s because

he taught the fbi would get there first which would make it harder for the guys they were running from to take them as they would have to go up against the authorities. They escaped as he knew they would just kill him and take the girl

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

It reminded me a lot of The Following, the Kevin Bacon series, which was also on Fox and featured the main star making increasingly ridiculous decisions and silly fight scenes.

DVD-Lots

It does deviate from the book but I'll allow it for now.....

Gonna have to bite my tongue on a few things, we may need a book readers discussion thread as anything I say could p1$$ people off.

There were quite a few moments of complete wtfery, like Fanning stumbling to the open cage, was the kid that opened it a familiar? Silly man. The whole funfair and absolute ineptitude of Brad's partner, seriously? And as for Babcock, generic unnecessary sexy vamp crap that really riles me as the book character was sooooo much better.

Anyways, I'll stick with it and try and enjoy the ride, I suffered enough seasons of Walking Dead before I gave up on it so I should at least give this the full season.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

The Following got very bad, very quickly.

JP Liz V1

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I really enjoyed that pilot.


The kid is awesome.

A tough cookie, a kick ass Annie

Mr E

That was great! No idea about the source material, but very enjoyable for what it was.

gmisk

Mr E wrote: »

That was great! No idea about the source material, but very enjoyable for what it was.

Just watched it now, potentially quite good will watch the next one.

Agent Coulson

I really enjoyed episode 2.


I also don't know the source material but I'm finding the story really interesting and I am enjoying the cast.

DVD-Lots

Yup, solid second ep, happy enough so far.

kerplun k

Huge fan of the books. Loving the series so far.

Gimme A Pound

Agent Coulson wrote: »

I really enjoyed that pilot.


The kid is awesome.

Love her! Kind of a smartass but so endearing and been through so much that you know it's a defence mechanism. Terrific little actress!

DVD-Lots

Next ep is out early, building up nicely.

Gimme A Pound

Very good tonight - I'm hooked.

Footoo

Really lyy thought they were going to balls this up but have been pleasantly surprised. Even the changes to Amy and Babcock from the book seem to be working.

My only issue is if it doesn’t follow the path the book takes halfway through the first book. I just can’t see how they’ll pull it off.

Walter Bishop

I'll be very surprised if they go the same route as the book, it'll be a sure-fire way to lose viewers with

a sudden huge time jump, different cast etc.

More likely they just cover the first third or so of the book in this season (I think it's ten episodes total), then if it gets renewed see where to go from there.

DVD-Lots

Interesting Article I read last week states that

We have taken the first quarter of the first book and we've made 10 episodes out of that. Liz Heldens has taken information that was backstory in book three, and for some of the characters in book two, and brought it into the story that we're telling in the first season.

And also

Jump 150 years into the future, not just 80+. What happens between those 150 years? There's a lot of story that we can make up and insert, and still move forward with the story. I know that Liz had talked about Season 2 possibly being the next part of the book, where it will travel forward into the future.

So we may have to wait until Season 2 if it gets approved to see if it will go down the book route accurately.

Link to article, it is hugely spoilery so DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOKS!!!!!

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2465268/how-foxs-the-passage-is-changing-the-books-story-according-to-mark-paul-gosselaar

Dial Hard

I was more-or-less enjoying this while still reserving judgement up until last night but the story inconsistencies really started to niggle at me in this episode.

1. Babcock and Carter would never have ended up on death row for the crimes they committed.

2. Are we really supposed to buy the fact that an installation the size, scope and set-up of Project Noah

wouldn't have a flippin generator

???

3. That nonsense of Carter and Amy leaning on the door to write their notes. I know it's utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things but it was so contrived it got on my last nerve. Literally any person in the world writing in that circumstance would lean on the floor.

Also, the constant jump-scares of Fanning screaming are getting really tired.

Melodeon

Dial Hard wrote: »

3. That nonsense of Carter and Amy leaning on the door to write their notes. I know it's utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things but it was so contrived it got on my last nerve. Literally any person in the world writing in that circumstance would lean on the floor.

Why are they even writing notes anyway?
The gap under the door is big enough to practically shake hands through, they could talk to each other perfectly normally.

lordgoat

Kori Wooden Luck wrote: »

The Following got very bad, very quickly.

Following > this

Melodeon wrote: »

Why are they even writing notes anyway?
The gap under the door is big enough to practically shake hands through, they could talk to each perfectly normally.

Why do they do anything in this show? It's so bad. Why they do things makes no sense.

kerplun k

It seems to be walking a fine line between being silly, similar to Under the Dome, and being good similar to Waling Dead season 1. Every time Babcock shows up on screen the quality drops. The thing this has going for it is the two leads and also has some really good names attached to it like Ridley Scott, Matt Reeves.

Gosselaar and Sidney are both great and work really well together, Fanning, Lear, Richards are all grand, but the writing really needs to sharpen up.

joe40

I'm currently watching the passage on fox and must say enjoying it so far. I have read the books which may help but the show is moving at a slow pace but developing the story nicely in my opinion.
Some may find it a bit slow.
The books are brilliant especially as the story progresses to the next time period so worth sticking with the show.
I would be interested in other opinions, if anyone watching this.

Gimme A Pound

Really enjoying it. I didn't read the books though, which I'd imagine are better.

Sarah Lazy Nitty-gritty

Sarah Lazy Nitty-gritty wrote: »

Really enjoying it. I didn't read the books though, which I'd imagine are better.

I only read the first one - couldn't get into the second one.

quite rambling I thought.

Dial Hard

glasso wrote: »

I only read the first one - couldn't get into the second one.

quite rambling I thought.

Yeah they're a bit all over the place, tbh. Good premise, poor execution. City of Mirrors in particular felt like it was pasted together from about 17 different places.

Anyway, I'm still really conflicted about the TV show. Parts of it work and parts of it are just... puzzling. I have no idea why they felt the need to make Amy black and Sykes and Babcock female. If the changes added anything to the story, then fine, but they don't, they just feel like they were done for the sake of it. Same goes for the changes to Carter's backstory - just, why???

The more I think about it, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that it's actually just Gosselaar's performance I like and the rest is pretty much crap.

kerplun k

Dial Hard wrote: »

Yeah they're a bit all over the place, tbh. Good premise, poor execution. City of Mirrors in particular felt like it was pasted together from about 17 different places.

Anyway, I'm still really conflicted about the TV show. Parts of it work and parts of it are just... puzzling. I have no idea why they felt the need to make Amy black and Sykes and Babcock female. If the changes added anything to the story, then fine, but they don't, they just feel like they were done for the sake of it. Same goes for the changes to Carter's backstory - just, why???

The more I think about it, the more I'm coming to the conclusion that it's actually just Gosselaar's performance I like and the rest is pretty much crap.

C'mon, the casting of Amy is one of the best things about this show. Her and Gosselaar work so well together.

I'll give you Babcock. She's just the worst. I thought the last episode was the best one so far, which incidentally gave Babcock almost zero screen time.

Dial Hard

kerplun k wrote: »

C'mon, the casting of Amy is one of the best things about this show. Her and Gosselaar work so well together.

I've no issue with the actress at all, she's great. But I'd just love to know what the logic behind the decision was, it doesn't add anything at all from a story perspective. And to me, unless a decision/change adds something to the story, it's pointless doing it. See also: the entire thought process behind The Dark Tower movie.

kerplun k

Dial Hard wrote: »

I've no issue with the actress at all, she's great. But I'd just love to know what the logic behind the decision was, it doesn't add anything at all from a story perspective. And to me, unless a decision/change adds something to the story, it's pointless doing it. See also: the entire thought process behind The Dark Tower movie.

Maybe she just applied for the role and the casting director thought she gave the best audition.

fritzelly

This is reminding me of The Strain but a lot worse, story seems to be meandering and the decisions made incredulous.
Haven't read the books so don't know the source material, may buy them as everyone says they are pretty good unlike the series

fritzelly

fritzelly wrote: »

This is reminding me of The Strain but a lot worse, story seems to be meandering and the decisions made incredulous.
Haven't read the books so don't know the source material, may buy them as everyone says they are pretty good unlike the series

First book was good, the second two not so much.

joe40

I'm really enjoying the show but probably helps by been familiar with the story from the books.

People are picking plot holes but you are always going to find that in these type of shows.

Dial Hard

Ok, this started to lose me big time tonight. I know I keep harping on about story, story, story but it just boggles my mind how little the show runners seem to care about it. And I'm not even talking about variance from the books, that was inevitable, but they're making story decisions that don't even make sense from the show universe point of view.

1. Amy suddenly acting wildly out of character? Why? What was the motivation/point?

2. They figured out that killing Fanning = killing Amy. Ok, grand, so kill the rest of the virals anyway.

And then just general nonsense: Amy running away from Winston into a nice, dark garage when the daylight was clearly affecting him. Wolgast being right with her despite the fact that they've literally just referred to her and Winston's preternatural speed. Lear having a lovely rosemantic evening with his wife while there was a massive containment issue at the compound.

And PLEEEEEASE - enough with the "change" jump scares.

I'm going to give this one more episode but I'm edging into hate-watching territory and don't want to be that person.

Walter Bishop

Yeah, I think with four episodes left I'll probably finish it but this is not good.

Would probably have been a lot better on HBO or some other non-basic cable network.

is_that_so

Walter Bishop wrote: »

Yeah, I think with four episodes left I'll probably finish it but this is not good.

Would probably have been a lot better on HBO or some other non-basic cable network.

It would have been better with a plan. I don't think any network could have saved this. Limping towards the end of the season on this too as it goes even more downhill.

ollkiller

I finished the 3 books last week. A very good read. Each book i find takes about 100 pages to get into and then i'd fly through them. Raging that Fox got the rights. If HBO or someone good got it it could have been an epic TV series.

kerplun k

I really enjoyed the books, but If I'm honest its probably a little too silly for a HBO style drama show, I think network TV was a good fit for this. For me it was this, or a moderately budgeted film, which probably would have lost ton of money. The show is grand and is ticking along nicely. It will be interesting to see how they handle the

timeline

of the books.

is_that_so

kerplun k wrote: »

I really enjoyed the books, but If I'm honest its probably a little too silly for a HBO style drama show, I think network TV was a good fit for this. For me it was this, or a moderately budgeted film, which probably would have lost ton of money. The show is grand and is ticking along nicely. It will be interesting to see how they handle the

timeline

of the books.

From what they've done so far I'd guess badly!

joe40

ollkiller wrote: »

I finished the 3 books last week. A very good read. Each book i find takes about 100 pages to get into and then i'd fly through them. Raging that Fox got the rights. If HBO or someone good got it it could have been an epic TV series.

I agree, I also think the story gets much more interesting from 2nd half of first book onwards, I know a bit of backstory in second book but the main action and interesting story takes place then.

This show has invested to much time and characters with the early stages.

Two episodes with unknown stars then get to Peter, Theon Alicia etc.

(trying to avoid spoilers, don't think I've given anything away that's not known)

Immortal Starlight

I have watched this series since the beginning and think it's fairly good. Had watched as far as episode 6 before I realised I'd also bought the first book of the series a few months ago too. Looking forward to starting the book when series 1 ends. Hopefully we will get a second series of the show too.

Mr E

The last 2 episodes were a bit all over the place (I wouldn't have even minded if the whole series finished after episode 9).

The last episode was more like an epilogue, but the ending was brave (I know it's following the books, but still...)

I think they found a way to move most characters from season 1 into the next one (if there is one), but it's going to be a very different show.

Sudden Valley

Really enjoyed the season. As someone else mentioned it is quite like the Strain, a bit messy but enjoyable.

fritzelly

It got better the last few episodes where there was more a sense of peril
Dunno if it can be saved tho with the bad script, stupid decisions etc. Somehow doubt, guessing the budget would need to be a lot higher but it hasn't gotten the viewership

Dial Hard

Ok, so just watched the last two episodes and I have a lot of thoughts. Warning: here thar be book spoilers.

Lila:

They've made her so likeable in this that I've no idea how they're going to transition her into the character she becomes in the books. But maybe they have a different storyline in mind for her because they certainly seem to be swapping other characters' storylines, namely...

Carter:

Who doesn't have anywhere near the humanity he did in the books and...

Babcock:

Who they seem to have given Carter's character arc to, with the whole only eating bad guys thing.

. The Clarke-as-familar device is really not working for me either.

Also, what was with all the female virals? At least half of the original 12 seemed to be chicks. Just more daftness for the sake of it. If there were ever six women on death row in the US at any one time, I'll eat my hat. Let alone "disappearable" ones, which all of the subjects were meant to be. And yes, I'm well aware of how pedantic I sound.

Finally, Amy - who's been braiding girlfriend's hair during the vampire apocalypse??? Also, RETRIEVE YOUR ARROWS! They don't grow on trees, like!

Walter Bishop

If wikipedia is to be believed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_on_death_row_in_the_United_States it looks like there are about forty women on death row in the US at the moment.

kerplun k

wow, they went with the book ending. hope it gets a second season.
Overall it was okay. Very messy in some parts but overall it was enjoyable.
Raging they just skipped over

the end of the world

. Probably didn't have the budget for it.

Dial Hard

In fairness they pretty much skip over that in the book too, you just get some snippets in flashback form from Auntie and again in TheTwelve.

MargeS

How did Babcock turn Clarke without him ending up like one of the original 11?
I missed that explaination I think.
He doesn't appear to need blood but gets to be immortal.

kerplun k

MargeS wrote: »

How did Babcock turn Clarke without him ending up like one of the original 11?
I missed that explaination I think.
He doesn't appear to need blood but gets to be immortal.

It was a concept used in the book were a member of the 12 takes a human and turns them into a familiar. Kinda like a servant. They remain mostly human, but have extended life.