Kiefer Sutherland (24) is back! Except this time around he is significantly toned down from his Jack Bauer days. A month or two ago, Fox debuted his new drama, "Touch" as a sneak peek and I thought it was a pretty decent show and would check it out when it officially started airing. They replayed the premiere episode last week and then last night we got a new episode. It opened to a little under 12 million viewers, which is pretty good. Especially for Fox. The show also stars David Mazouz, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Danny Glover.
Official summary of the show: Martin Bohm is a widower and single father who is haunted by an inability to connect to his emotionally challenged 11-year-old son Jake. But when Martin discovers that Jake can predict events before they happen, everything changes. It's not really an action packed story, the events unfold slowly and finally connect at the end. It's more of a moving and "touching" story based show than it is Kiefer trying to prevent traumatic events that will cause the end of the world. This is a show about human connections and the bigger picture of our existence. It's about connecting estranged fathers and daughters, giving a son closure after his fathers death. Stuff like that. So if you are looking for suspense, I'm guessing you won't find much with "Touch". Ha, I'm a poet.
The show is not an original concept by any means. Shows like "Early Edition", "Tru Calling", and "Journeyman" and movies like "Knowing" (A horrible movie in my opinion). However, "Touch" doesn't really have the supernatural elements like those other shows do. There is no time travel involved, or mysterious newspapers that predict specific upcoming events. This about a young autistic boy who sees the universe at it's finest through numbers. So while it still definitely has moments of "unrealism" (blah blah, who cares!?), it's still fairly grounded in reality. You can nit pick all you want about how shows and movies are unrealistic, by then why are you even bothering watching this stuff?
I don't think "Touch" is a perfect television show. I think it could benefit from slightly better writing. Some of the story lines so far are a bit cliched and end predictably. Last night, I thought it was pretty obvious that the woman from the airport was the daughter of the dying man from the pawn shop and that they would be re-connected in the end. Also, the stories per each episode seem to be crowded with to much going on and to many characters. There has got to be a simpler way of reaching the point in the end. But then again, the concept of the show isn't a simple one. The dialog at times is also a bit cheesy and occasionally seems silly. The other issue I have is actually Kiefer Sutherland. I feel like him transitioning from the bad ass Jack Bauer to this more controlled loving father isn't coming off so well. He seems to whisper a lot of his lines and always sounds out of breath. He's good on the show overall, he just seems out of his element. Maybe in due time he will get better.
I know that probably sounds like I don't like the show, but actually I do. I think it's quite a beautiful show, at least the concept is. The story may be jam packed, but ultimately it's quite moving and I think it tells a fantastic message. It stretches the globe, so it's not stuck in just New York, which I enjoy. I'm wondering if this boy has a much larger role to play in the universe or is he just here to connect individuals? Or will he one day stop a horrific event that could have killed thousands? I guess we will see. I can see this show lasting a while, as long as Fox doesn't cancel it or move it to Friday nights (the doomsday spot for them).
"Touch" airs Thursday nights on FOX.
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