(S01E03) For those of you playing along at home, the ratings for the big two hour premiere of Drive are in. Unfortunately, they weren't very good. That isn't the end of the world though. To really get an idea of where the series stands, we'll have to wait until the numbers come in for the regular Monday night showing. Things should be fine. Nobody watches Dancing With The Stars or Deal Or No Deal anyway, right?Moving on, thinking happy thoughts about Nielsen boxes tuned to Drive, episode three was another solid installment. That's solid, but not great. It didn't quite match the level of the first two. Not that there weren't high points. It just seemed that some of the stories lacked the intensity that we saw in the premiere. There was still some good information coming to us, but not in as gripping a fashion. That's fine, but not exactly what I wanted to see in the time slot premiere.
The highlight of the episode was the Alex part of the story. I was picking Officer Poole as another stranger working for the sponsors right about the time he gave Alex yet another shot to the head. Someone at Fox should really be working an advertising deal with Excedrin. Apparently that work beating on Sawyer, as Pickett on Lost, prepared Michael Bowen for this new gig. Previous to that, he also did a guest spot on The Inside. I thought he was good here. Dirty fake cop is a role that suits him well.
The big Alex reveal that came from all of that was hinted at nicely in the scene with Becca (Katie Finneran, Wonderfalls) and the detective. It was clear that Alex wasn't just a gardener, but hearing her comment on how he's through with all that gave the idea more weight. The choice to make him the wheel man for the crew serves a couple purposes. First, it's a nice boost to Alex's driving cred. A professional wheel man should be able to do all sorts of things with a car that may seem somewhat suspicious for a gardener. And second, it makes it easier to root for Alex. Yes, he was a criminal, and not a good guy, but despite what the law and the fake Officer Poole say, there is a difference between the wheel man and the trigger man.
My favorite bit of the whole Alex/Poole exchange was the line, "You don't want to meet the real Alex Tully." It called to mind the scene from Firefly's "War Stories" where Mal asks, "You wanna meet the real me now?" I have to say, I'm all for more of the real Alex Tully, and his badass Challenger. His beat up old Ford truck had a certain charm, but that car is awesome.
As far as the rest of the teams go, I was entertained, but not really excited about any of it. Dupree (Sasha Barrese) was certainly gorgeous, and the "Fugitive Recovery Agent" was a nice angle. She also helped to show just how much power Sean and Winston's father has now. Other than that, most of what we got from the Sean and Winston interaction was just ok.
It was similar to the Wendy and Ivy portion of the episode. It's worth getting some back story on how Ivy ended up in the race, but there wasn't much to really latch on to there. The only thing from them that I really dug was the strange mood swings from Wendy. She goes from so sweet and demure, to borderline crazy and threatening, and right back again, so quickly. She's an odd duck, and that's interesting to watch.
Rob's story hasn't really captured my attention yet. I am curious about Ellie though. At this point I'm not buying her whole trying to protect him story. I think there is another angle at work. She's manipulating him in fine fashion, even turning on the tears. Right up to the point where he agrees to go to Rome before making any calls. She's good, and I'm wondering what her real motivation is.
John and Violet were good together as she taught him how to lie. She probably had the funniest line of the night as she revealed her fib about going to the "Teen Girls Considering Celibacy" group. I liked how he played off the call from Doctor Roth, but the fact that he is hiding his illness from Violet was already well understood.
Overall, a step back from the big debut, but still well worth a look. The final run with Alex back in his Challenger was fun, and appropriate given that he really carried this episode. So, mostly on the back of Nathan Fillion, I'm giving this one a 5, out of 7.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-17-2007 @ 8:21AM
Dan said...
Interesting show, but I wish they could have found another stretch of highway to use as they are obviously driving up and down the same part of southern Cali, no matter whether it's supposed to be south Florida or deep south Georgia. Very distracting, and somewhat low-rent.
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4-17-2007 @ 8:55AM
Mark said...
Yeah, agreed with the highway comment - it's something I really noticed in this episode.
Also, I was kind of hoping for more "elimination" bits than we saw. Frankly, the way that Wendy got to cop out of her "elimination" rules was a bit cheap.
That said, I like where this series is going. It's got a heap of potential. And while I like fellow Canadian Nathan Fillion as an actor, I'm hoping that they're going to do one race per season, with all new actors each time around. I can see a race stretched across an entire season, but it's pushing the bounds if it's neverending.
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4-17-2007 @ 9:00AM
Walt said...
I've watched way too much LOST to have been fooled for a minute by the fake cop bit. The souped up Dodge Challenger surrounded by fancy shop lights gave me a bit of a chuckle. I'm surprised they didn't have a choir singing, "Hallelujah!" to cheer our new wheel man onward.
Wait, don't tell me... The guy from Iraq is going to turn out to be a sniper? Oh, oh! I have it! The crazy mom in the minivan is going to turn out to be an ex-bank manager! And the guy driving the gold lowrider car knows how to break into banks!
This isn't "LOST on Wheels"... This "THE NINE on Wheels"!
Okay, maybe this won't be THE NINE bad/pointless... maybe but in a road race without rules, I can't see any compelling reason to continue watching this. The only remaining question I have is whether the first bank they get told to break into will ALSO be a "fake bank" as a trial run...
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4-17-2007 @ 9:04AM
Hugeliver said...
BORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING!!!!
What's with the Angelina Jolie & Marisa Tomei lookalikes???
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4-17-2007 @ 9:04AM
David said...
So was my guess of the show lasting three weeks to long?
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4-17-2007 @ 9:22AM
mayorjimmy said...
The last 5 minutes of this episode were totally worth it. The slight smile on Alex's face as he was hauling down the highway was great. I can relate to his love for speed. It's more addictive than crack.
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4-17-2007 @ 10:00AM
Joseph Land said...
I'm enjoying the show, but I grew up outside of Gainesville, FL. I can tell you that there are no mountains, nor any real sort of hills to be seen.
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4-17-2007 @ 10:29AM
Kyle Beasley said...
I thought of the "You want to meet the real me now!?" scene in Firefly too.
I hope this show goes on for a little bit just to build up Nathan Fillion's cred enough so that he won't ever have to do a movie like White Noise 2 again.
http://kylebeabo.blogspot.com/
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4-17-2007 @ 10:56AM
Lampbane said...
What I want to know is why Wendy/Ivy and John/Violet were so freakin' far behind, considering that unlike the others, they didn't actually have to stop (unlike everyone else, what with their fake arrest/bounty hunter/cell phone problems).
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4-17-2007 @ 11:25AM
CJ said...
Lampbane: Just cuz they didnt show them stopping, doesnt mean they didnt.
I knew it was a fake cop bit, I just didn't know why. As a car lover, it was quite awesome seeing the shiny Challenger sitting there, not to mention the last five minutes roaring down the road.
Speaking of the road, they need to do something about that. Why is there a double yellow line in the of the freeway, not to mention a bus/car pool loane in the middle of traffic? Looks like they are using a fake freeway somewhere on the west coast over and over, which doesn't really bother me if it weren't for the weird road lines being used.
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4-17-2007 @ 11:44AM
David said...
Yes, everyone on the face of the planet that doesn't work for Fox knows that Florida has no mountains! Move on people!
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4-17-2007 @ 1:23PM
LordPaul said...
This is what I hate about this obsession with Ratngs.
Just make the series & put it on some channel that doesn't give a fuck about ratings, advertise it, get the buzz out & just play it through.
Oh, and make a series 6-12 episodes that have a logical conclusion point that can be continued if it gets picked up fo rthe second series.
I love American TV, but I hate the way it's sold.
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4-17-2007 @ 2:09PM
cathie said...
The pacing was a little off compared to the first night, the bump came with the policeman interrogating Alex just should have moved faster, but it's moving forward and is solid just not as super as it could be.
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4-17-2007 @ 2:16PM
insrtbrain said...
Another fun Firefly cameo - the FBI agent was the first bounty hunter, Jubal Early, from Firefly.
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4-17-2007 @ 2:58PM
ac said...
How were prison break's ratings in this slot? You think this show would get the same rating because it's a guys show like prison break. The people watching Prison Break aren't switching over to Dancing With the Stars thats for sure.
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4-17-2007 @ 3:28PM
metz said...
I have to agree that network TV only has itself to blame if a show like this fails. Fox should be advertising that no matter what all 22 episodes of Drive will be broadcast and the series will reach a conclusion.
That's the only way to get people hooked on serials. Either stop canceling shows after 3 episodes or produce series with smaller production runs that conclude.
Anyhow, I'm enjoying Drive and I think that they've done a decent job exposing backstory without resorting to flashbacks. They've also done a decent job keeping large portions of the story outside of the cars. I think you'll find less continuity errors as the series progresses.
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4-17-2007 @ 3:47PM
malren said...
#16 is SO right. Half the reason these serial shows fail is that people are afraid to start watching them. The last few years have gotten worse; the minute you get hooked on a show some stupid exec pulls it because it wasn't an instant runaway hit.
Tim Minear said that they have a 13 episode "ending" and a 22 episode "ending." COMMIT TO ONE OR THE OTHER, FOX. Tell us in advance that this will air no matter what, and others might join in, if for no other reason than they know you're going to let the damn show air!
As for last night, I loved it. That car is simply a thing of beauty, and watching Tully drive it...I could watch a whole show based on nothing but Nathan Fillion delivering quips to the blonde, threats to everyone else and driving that car. Of course given my user name I may be a bit biased...
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4-17-2007 @ 4:26PM
Jose said...
Hasn't FOX learned anything from House. They put that show right after American Idol and it took off. If you want to showcase your new shows, put them after American Idol. If they can do it for some dumb Jeff Foxworthy game show, they can do it for Drive.
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4-17-2007 @ 5:37PM
Sam said...
I have a question about Salazar's car. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they make it seem like the Race bought it for him in the first episode, and then last night, he gave his little speech about it being his gangsta car? Am I remembering this wrong?
If they're retconning this early in the series, it's a really bad sign.
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4-17-2007 @ 6:01PM
Kevin Beaumont said...
The ratings for Monday:
Fox drama Drive debuted in the time period with a mere (and fourth-place) 3.7/ 6, which was a decline of 35 percent from former occupant Prison Break on the year-ago Monday (5.7/ 9 on April 17, 2006).
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