“Minority Report” Episode 1.1, “Pilot” Starring Stark Sands, Meagan Good, Nick Zano, Laura Regan, Wilmer Valderrama; Written by Max Borenstein; Directed by Mark Mylod.
In 2002, Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” hit the big screen, but it may have taken a precog to see that 13 years later the saga of Dash, Arthur, and Agatha would unfold on the small screen.
The year is 2065, ten years after the events in the film, which marked the end of Precrime after John Anderton (Tom Cruise) finds himself the target of an investigation and ultimately reveals the flaws in the program.
With the program gone, the Precogs cease to be of any use to the police force, and they take up residence in an idyllic cottage, returning to something of a normal life for each of them. But they can’t hide forever.
Dash, eager to help where possible, wanders around the city, filling his notebook with images of murders before they happen. He tries to piece together details from his visions, but without brother Arthur to form a complete picture, Dash always arrives too late.
When he shares information with homicide detective Lara Vega, however, both realize that by working together they may actually be able to stop murders from happening. Helping law enforcement puts Dash in a vulnerable situation, however. He doesn’t want his identity known, and his siblings worry about the path he’s following.
My bias for all things Spielbergian may be showing here (and he is one of the executive producers), but I thought the pilot was fine. I’d heard a lot of negative reviews leading up to the premiere and even since, but nothing jumped out at me as particularly terrible. Predictable a bit, sure (especially in a show about seeing the future!), but most television series do follow formulas.
The visual effects didn’t look cheesy or fake, as they do on so many other shows, and the cinematography seemed to evoke some of the style of the Spielberg film, reminding us that we’re in a familiar landscape but in a different time.
Dash mostly walked around with a deer-in-the-headlights expression, but I’m assuming (hoping) that will disappear as he begins to interact more with other people as the series progresses. His people skills need a bit of work. And I was glad that Vega didn’t wear her red leather jacket the entire show. It reminded me too much of Emma Swan’s on “Once Upon a Time,” and I don’t even watch that show anymore and am sick of seeing that jacket.
I think the most promising hook of the series will be the dynamic between the Precogs. They’ve all gone separate ways, and their ability to see the future certainly complicates their relationships. Dash wants to help others, Arthur wants to help himself, and Agatha wants to be left alone. And yet they remain bound by familial ties and their gift (curse?).
As far as pilots go, I feel there’s a lot of potential in the show. Maybe that’s hopelessly optimistic, but I didn’t have a lot of expectations going in to the pilot, and I’m interested enough to keep watching at this point.