Now that we’ve nearly reached November, it’s crunch time for freshman TV shows. Shows must begin to step up their game, or they run a closer and closer risk of cancellation. Forever has had a relatively strong start thus far, but it will definitely need to continue an upward trend to have a shot at a full season.
This week, a local philanthropist with rich roots was murdered in his small scale New York apartment. His rich parents are shocked, and his high school friends are suspicious. Tyler (the victim) seemed like a great guy, and he just won a humanitarian award. So what kind of humanitarian who is universally loved is murdered with his award statue? Well sometimes that happens when you have secrets.
This episode heavily relied on its main players, Ioan Gruffudd and Alana De La Garza, for the meat of the episode. This was a great episode in the sense that we learned more about our main players while the case unfolded. Normally, this show is a tad uneven when it comes to balancing its great supporting cast and its two leads, but this episode finally began to mix those two elements better, which shows a lot of promise. As I’ve often said, Gruffudd and De La Garza have what it takes to carry a series, and they were stronger than ever in this episode. We’ve seen Henry’s past, but this was the first time that we’ve actually learned about character shaping moments for both characters. We definitely need to see more of this.
I still think that Joel David Moore and Judd Hirsch are both criminally underused. They have so much to offer the series, I just think that they could be more instrumental to the main plot. This week, however, the show managed to find a delicate balance this week. The message that sends to me is that this show is finally starting to find its sea-legs. I’m slowly becoming more impressed as the run continues, and I’m starting to think maybe this show has what it takes to make it. I’ve always believed it had the tools to succeed, but it’s finally putting them to good use, and that’s a great thing! I was impressed that we got to see some depth to Abe, though. About time!
I still think there could’ve been more of a sense of the over-arching mystery or the “Adam” character that makes the show as a whole so intriguing. I thought that Henry’s immortality was used very well, though, in the revelations about his past. I’m hanging on to the notion that this show will build a stronger thread to tie the episodes closer to the comprehensive story, but I wasn’t disappointed with this episode as a whole.
Forever is slowly but surely improving, and it’s becoming a Tuesday night fixture. What do you guys think? Are you still watching? How do you think it’s going? Let us know!
Image via ABC
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