Zero Hour
Episode 1: Strike
By: Carlos Uribe
Zero
Hour is a show about 12 clocks that can end the world and the race to
find them before evil can.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
“It isn't supposed to make any sense.”
I think that line from near the end of the pilot is a perfect way to
describe Zero Hour. The premise of Zero Hour is that the magazine
editor of a skeptics magazine is embroiled in a massive conspiracy
that could lead to the end of the world. This is a conspiracy that
depends on twelve clocks that can lead to the person who brings them
together to a world-shattering secret. There are also clues of
immortality, time travel, and references to secret cults within the
Christian religion. The stakes are very ambitious in scales as the
world is basically what's at stake. I like to watch genre fiction and
this is a series that can be very entertaining but I wouldn't expect
to ever actually be good. The premise is kind of dumb to begin with
and the execution doesn't really do anything to make it intelligent.
It doesn't even really play into the whole “skeptic character drawn
into religious conspiracy” angle very well as the characters are
all too undefined for that. This is a show that manages to draw you
in but you never lose sight of the fact that what you're watching is
pretty stupid. Zero Hour is a show that reminds me of a toned-down
The Cape: it's awesome and fun but it's not actually very good. If
anything, I think that “it's so bad it's good” applies to this
show.
The pilot begins with the Nazis. There is a church that is secretly
building clocks with a great sense of urgency. It's very idiotic but
engaging at the same time. I'll admit that the opening managed to
hook me in that I wanted to watch more of it. We then jump forward in
time and the pilot commits a grave error. There's a nice scene where
the wife and the protagonist show that they're in love but then she
gets kidnapped. One of my least favorite story tactics is to begin
with a missing character that everyone has to look for because we
don't really know this character. The stakes might work for the
people in the show but the audience doesn't have a lot of reason to
root for them. That one scene is supposed to get the audience to get
aboard with the search for the character but it doesn't completely
work because it's just one scene. After that, the pilot becomes about
trying to find her as the characters are slowly drawn in to the
conspiracy. It has a shocking ending where the protagonist learns
that the antagonist was being literal when he states he's lived
before. Overall, it's a fun watch but there isn't a lot of actual
substance in this pilot. The plot is addicting but not much else. I
don't care about any of the characters nor am I invested in getting
the protagonist’s wife back.
So who is the protagonist? His name is Hank Galliston. He's a
magazine editor for a skeptics magazine who believes in getting
evidence before jumping to conclusions. He's married to a wife who
he's still very much in love with after all these years. He might
know a lot about clocks. That's basically all that there is to know
about him. He doesn't really have a personality. He spends most of
the episode being worried about his wife. This is understandable but
there isn't a single moment where his actual character is really
developed. We only learn the superficial elements of the character.
Anthony Edwards is a great actor but even he struggles to make Hank
completely work as there's some scenes that he doesn't manage to
sell. I've run across pilots where the main characters are at the
very least defined by the end of the hour. This is not one of them.
This is a bigger problem when you realize that a large part of the
idea is that he's a skeptic involved in a conspiracy. This could lead
to some pretty strong thematic material and character work but this
doesn't work because Hank isn't really a character. He's just a
vehicle for the pilot to start exploring the mystery.
Hank might not be a very strong character but every other person on
this show is less defined. After his wife gets kidnapped, Hank is
joined by two of his reporters. I'm not sure their names are actually
established in the pilot but they are Arron and Rachel. The two
basically just join Hanks's search because their employees? Friends?
I'm not sure but the pilot doesn't really do a good job explaining
why they get involved. This would probably involve giving them actual
personalities but they basically just tag along with Hank because the
plot needs to give him some sidekicks. Hank's wife, Laila, has great
chemistry with with him but there is a framing device that defines
her. When we see them shopping for clocks, there is a shot where the
two are saying goodbye. The camera makes it look like the two are in
a portrait. The meaning is clear: they have a picture-perfect
marriage. This might not be realistic but it also means that Laila's
sole personality trait is liking clocks and being a great wife. The
final main character is Beck, an FBI agent who...carries a gun and
her job makes her a “resource”. She keeps bringing that up and
that's basically why she exists: to provide the FBI's resources to
Hank. The antagonist is White Vincent, a character who basically does
stuff for the sake of the mystery. His motives are unexplained and
he's a two-dimensional villain. What's worse is that he's also a very
bland and by-the-numbers one.
Zero Hour is a pilot that is bold in it's love of clocks and the
mystery it has set up. I'm intrigued and will probably watch this
show until it's cancellation but it's not a good one. I still have to
recommend the pilot at least simply because it's hard not to get all
excited about it. The question is if the remaining episodes will be
able to keep up this craziness or if they'll slow down to try and
develop the plot as slowly as possible. Slowing down is the worst
possible thing for this show unless it's interested in actually
fleshing out it's characters and it's able to do so in an
entertaining manner. Zero Hour is a fun show but don't expect much
out of it.
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