(S01E01) There are certain words I'm hesitant to use to describe this first episode of The Nine. After my praise and hype of Studio 60, I caught the wrath of many readers who thought I was either overpraising the show a little bit or just completely wrong for even liking the show. So, I'm hesitant to say that The Nine is excellent. It's exciting and well put together and deserves the hype that has been building for the past several weeks.
Having said that, I'd just like to say that The Nine is excellent. It's exciting and well put together and deserves the hype that has been building for the past several weeks.
Even a casual TV viewer knows the plot: nine strangers are brought together after being held hostage in a bank for 52 hours when a robbery goes awry. That's the plot right there, but like most great TV shows, it's how the handle the plot that matters.
We see that one hostage was killed, one hostage was released, and we see that the guy (John Billingsley) who seemed like the coward is now being called a hero. We see one woman acting differently towards her doctor boyfriend (Scott Wolf) because of something he did in the bank, a young girl who can't remember anything that happened in the bank with her dad (Chi McBride), and we see the cop (Tim Daly) come outside and punch the hostage negotiator. I don't know if it's the cleverness of the direction, the solid editing, or the cast that pulls it off (actually, it's all three), but you are instantly curious as to what happened to these people in the bank those 52 hours. And if you've seen ABC's marketing campaign, that's exactly what they want to happen with viewers.
This is the show Six Degrees could have been: a solid drama about a group of strangers who find themselves brought together. Nine is a higher number than six, in more ways than one.
The Nine is a lot like Lost in its use of flashbacks to fill in more of the story. But it's similar only because both use flashbacks. They don't use them the same. Lost uses them in big chunks to almost tell a different story of what happened in a character's past. The Nine uses them to explain why a certain character is acting a certain why, or why a hostage was released, why someone is acting differently after the hostage crisis is over than they were before. It's quite an intriguing set-up, and so far, it's working beautifully.
As the survivors sit in a diner at the end, trying to sit around and talk like a group of normal friends (until a waitress drops a tray and they all freak out), you wonder, where is the show going to go from here? But it's a credit to the cast that you really do care about what is going to happen to them, how the plots are going to progress (why does McBride's daughter go to the prison to see one of the robbers?!), and how the writers will interweave the flashbacks to explain certain scenes in the pilot.
I'm hooked.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-04-2006 @ 11:11PM
cdmc said...
"What happened in there?"
I want to know!
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10-04-2006 @ 11:30PM
adhonus said...
I'm not so sure if this is a show I can keep up with. I can only watch so many shows, and I don't really feel hooked by the mystery of it all.
I'm trying to question the assumption that I know what's going to happen, and will tune in again. But I think I'd be more likely to watch this on abc.com then watch it love on television. The breaks took me out of the moment and I was ready to get back to work.
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10-04-2006 @ 11:41PM
RTM said...
Absolutely loved this show. However, I have to question if ABC is putting it in the right time slot. I know putting the series premiere right after Lost is sure to grab some viewers but might it also drive some away? Won't some people look at this and say, 'I love Lost but my head is spinning after it and I can't get hooked to another show full of plot twists and mystery, especially one that's on immediately afterwards.' Just a thought but this show was great and I will definately tune in next week.
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10-04-2006 @ 11:42PM
erroneous_nick said...
I liked this show more than I expected to. Although I sat down expecting to like it at least a little bit, I came away more involved in it after this first episode than I have been with some shows over their entire run. I know a lot of people won't like it, but when has there ever been a show that everyone liked?
Bob, your admiration for The Nine comes through even though you were reserved in your praise for it. Once bitten, twice shy, eh?
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10-04-2006 @ 11:53PM
Margaret said...
I really enjoyed the show. I was dissapointed that it ended where it did. I can hardly wait for the next episode. I've watched other premiers of new shows and I didn't feel hooked like this. The only other show that I really love is Boston Legal. I love all the characters.I think a lot of viewers will get hooked on "NINE".
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10-05-2006 @ 12:21AM
Aaron said...
I'm sorry I think I'm the only one that watched 'The Nine' and thought the beginning was amazingly intense and fun to watch, and then the middle and end sort of fizzled out.
It seemed to me that after the whole bank robbery and interegation, these people didn't seem like what happened in there was too much of a life changing experience. And the cliff hanger really wasn't all that much a cliff hanger.
Sorry, I'll probably be chewed apart for this comment.
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10-05-2006 @ 12:32AM
Janiey said...
I am totally hooked now and cannot wait for the next episode. A site I like is an unofficial fan site at: http://www.FidelityRepublic.com/ . The start was so fast moving and hopefully it will be that way for the entire remainder of the season. First 10 minutes, robbery hot start, clues revealed and then something resolved each time. Maybe :)
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10-05-2006 @ 2:06AM
Kerina said...
Great beginning, interesting setup but it utterly lost me when they jumped over the whole standoff. Screw this. I'm gone. Besides, I can only commit to two twisting shows a night.
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10-05-2006 @ 2:36AM
Allen said...
After only being mildly amused by this season's offerings, wow. What a 1-2 punch ABC has put together here.
I thought Lost delivered on my expectations. Cool surprise, interesting things going on, not much forward momentum. That was par for the course.
But, the 9? I had no idea this show would be as tickling as it is. My head scratched at every twist and my wife and I said, on 3 occassions, "What happened in there?"
Taut. Tense. And the acting was sublime. Tim Daly delivers on a 25 year old promise. Not since Diner has he been remotely this interesting. And Desmond Pfeiffer was great too.
Prediction: Billingsly nominated for Emmy next year.
A+
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10-05-2006 @ 2:14AM
Dave said...
Pstttt. I know what happened in there. Aliens that glow invaded and took over their bodies.
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10-05-2006 @ 2:28AM
Dorv said...
I loved it.
Was it just me, or was there a Eyes reference at the beginning of the episode?
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10-05-2006 @ 3:14AM
Clint said...
I had read all the high expectations and praise for this show for the past few weeks. After watching, I thought this is good, but not great.
Aaron was right, it didn't grab at the end as much as I wanted to. I will definitely keep watching, but it wasn't as ground breaking as I thought it would be. The Studio 60 pilot left me saying Wow, this didn't quite have that magic.
Also, is it may or is ABC turning into the network with shows only about flashbacks and strange connections between people? I wonder if on dancing with the stars, if Joe Lawerence will have flash backs to his childhood and we see Jerry Springer pass by in the backround?? Seriously, between this, Lost and 6 Degrees I think they've maxed out this idea.
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10-05-2006 @ 4:26AM
fanboy said...
TOTALLY SUPERB!!!
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10-05-2006 @ 5:31AM
Dave said...
Ok, I guess I'm the only one that thinks this show sucks. It's "Lost" in a bank. How original. Another boring J.J. Abrams-type serial. The characters aren't interesting. How long can they drag out this premise of showing glimpses of what happened during the robbery? I'll be passing on this one.
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10-05-2006 @ 5:16AM
az1324 said...
Overrated. Thank you, #9. Bring back invasion!
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10-05-2006 @ 5:57AM
xbxtv said...
No, you're not # 15. Dito to all you've said.
My opinion: Just not showing what happened to make everything "interesting" isn't much of a genius. Showing it directly and keeping it interesting - that's what makes excellent storytelling...
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10-05-2006 @ 9:13AM
Brian said...
I've seen praise for this show elsewhere but I don't really get it. Attack me if you must, but the premise (Lost in a bank... as one user said) just isn't all that interesting to me regardless of how well it's acted. I'm going to give this one a shot but I'm reluctant to get burned by investing in a serial that might not find it's audience.
I might let this one build on the Tivo until it looks like enough people found the concept interesting enough to make a season two likely.
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10-05-2006 @ 9:20AM
Toby OB said...
Dorv - please elaborate on that "Eyes" reference; I loved that show and must have missed it.
Allen - I totally agree on an Emmy nomination for Billingsley. He was heart-breaking in his first big scene.
But I wasn't as wowed by this show as I expected to be from the build-up from many critics who had seen a preview of it. I'm wondering if that was because they got to see it commercial-free? Man! There were a lot of ad breaks in this hour. (And the same was true for 'Lost' as well.)
I'll watch it again but just wish 'Kidnapping' wasn't up against it. I think that is definitely the better show, but the audience was brain-washed into passing it over since 'The Nine' was being trumpeted as the Next Big Thing.
Just based on this one hour, it doesn't look as though you HAVE to keep coming back each week to 'The Nine' so as not to miss anything....
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10-05-2006 @ 10:32AM
Jimmy said...
I'm "somewhat" hooked. I know I'll definately return. It just depends on what happens after this episode that will decide if I stay. The show is certainly well-written and well-acted -- even the usually cardboard Kim Raver was good. What I wonder is if this show can last beyond one year. I can see how the show could last over 20+ episodes filling in those 52 hours, but beyond that it seems like people would grow tired of it all. I think it depends on how well they write the present-day stuff as to whether The Nine will remain interesting. Right now The Nine almost lives up to the hype.
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10-05-2006 @ 11:04AM
JanetK said...
I love this show, however I agree with the comments about it possibly being in the wrong timeslot.
Maybe ABC should switch this show's time period with Six Degrees.
Having something serious like this after the flirty Grey's Anatomy would be great, and since ER has become such a melodramatic bore, The Nine would be the first interesting thing to watch at 10pm on Thursdays that the Networks have offered in a long time.
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