Why I Think You Should Give BELIEVE a Try

Tonight is the series premiere of J.J. Abrams’ new series Believe, directed by Academy Award winner  Alfonso Cuarón. I’m not yet sure why they are calling it ‘Believe’, and the pilot doesn’t make that clear. What is clear is that “Believe” will grab you from the beginning of the episode, and hurl you along on a non-stop, action packed ride that ends in a pretty fantastic launch into what could be a great series of adventures. For that alone, you should give it a shot.

“Believe” centers around a ten-year old girl named Bo, who has some extraordinary powers that she can neither understand or control. She can levitate, control nature and see the future, and her powers are getting stronger. The synopsis reads:

Levitation, telekinesis, the ability to control nature, see the future … since she was born, Bo (Johnny Sequoyah) has had gifts she could neither fully understand nor control. But now that she is 10 years old, her powers have become stronger and the threat from malevolent forces that would use her abilities to control the world has grown more dangerous. With her life and future in jeopardy, Bo’s protector, Milton Winter (Delroy Lindo, “The Chicago Code”), turns to an unlikely source to keep her safe — Tate (Jake McLaughlin, “Crash”), a wrongfully imprisoned death row inmate who’s lost his will.

Tate and Bo begin an extraordinary journey, one in which trust must be earned. On the run and traveling from city to city, every place they stop and everyone they meet will be changed forever.  But they’ll have to keep going to stay one step ahead of the sinister forces after Bo’s power … because it will take a miracle to keep them safe forever.

The pilot holds no secrets back, no cliffhangers that leave you shaking your fist at the tv screen. But it does capture your interest and curiosity. You have to come back for the next episode just to see what happens to Bo and Tate as they travel from place to place. I rather like that! Sometimes when episodes end on a cliffhanger each week it gets exhausting. It’s nice to just watch a show where all you want to see is the characters develop in the circumstances they are thrown into.

There is fun twist at the end of the pilot that for some of you, may not be such a surprise. It wasn’t for me, but that certainly didn’t take away from my delight in the direction they took. In fact, it made it all the more interesting.

I want to see more of Bo and Tate. I want to see how their relationship grows – Tate is a very hard man and Bo is too adorbs to resist. Bo is played by Johnny Sequoyah. I’ve never heard of her before but if “Believe” is accepted by the masses you can bet that she will soon be a household name.

I really hope that “Believe” is a success. I can’t see how it wouldn’t be with this lineup of talent (besides Abrams and Cuarón):

Bryan Burk (“Person of Interest,” “Revolution,” “Fringe,” “Lost”)

Jonas Pate (“Deception,” “Prime Suspect,” “Caprica”)

Hans Tobeason (“Damages,” “Saving Grace,” “V,” “Cult.”)

“Believe” premieres tonight at 9/8c on NBC. Try it on for size and let me know what you think! Check out the opening scene:

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