S01.E01: Pilot

[Wouldofshouldof]

Where does his old body go when he dies and is resurrected?  Does it simply disappear into thin air?

 

LOL, Owlzilla, I wondered the same thing about his clothes.  They weren't in a heap on the train, so what happened to them?

[StaceyNotStacie]

Really enjoyed this show. I hope it's not another new show that I get hooked on that gets cancelled after a month

[Surrealist]

The fantasy aspect of this show vaguely reminds me of 1987's Beauty and the Beast.

The latter is darker in subject matter and tone.

I'm not getting the romantic vibe between Henry and Jo that was present between Catherine and Vincent.

[HalcyonDays]

Just watched the pilot and second episode and I enjoyed it very much, I would have to say. However, all I could keep thinking throughout was that this show is Sleepy Hollow meets Castle.

 

Sleepy Hollow - British guy, quirky, odd, sassy who first 'died' 200 years ago, yet didn't really die, and is living in modern times. He is working with a female police detective solving strange cases. Character names - Abigail, Henry and Abraham. Flashbacks to previous times to show quirky Brit's life.

 

Castle - Female detective who looks almost identical to Beckett, even dressed like Beckett solves cases with a weird yet charming guy who has an uncanny knack for finding clues. Murder boards. Detective wears a wedding ring that means something to her around her neck. Standing around solving cases that tend to have weird twists. Boss who sees the genius with police detective, but warns her not to let her personal life affect her work.

 

So far, it's good. I'll DVR it and watch.

[DrLar]

At least they didn't go the "Resurrection" way of having multiple corpses of him around, so he can't examine himself, maybe that ticks him off....

The watch must be the key, it won't go with him when he dies, so they are saying he goes back for it every time he dies?

[dargosmydaddy]

 

However, all I could keep thinking throughout was that this show is Sleepy Hollow meets Castle.

I don't watch Castle, so I was thinking Sleepy Hollow meets Elementary. Clearly ABC is hoping to cash in on the snarky, hot British guy + minority female sidekick formula. And considering I find the supernatural element of Sleepy Hollow rather OTT, and the lack of ongoing storylines on Elementary rather boring (OK, so they got some ongoing storylines, but they don't do anything for me... go away, Mycroft), I really enjoyed Forever as the best of both worlds.

 

And I have to admit that I never quite saw what all the fuss was about when Ioan Gruffudd was on Horatio Hornblower (blasphemy, I know), but DAMN, he sure grew up fine.

[DrLar]

Yeah I know the actor is British but if the character could learn multiple languages and maybe accents? maybe adapt and speak "New Yorker" or at least American. But I guess they wanted to be more "Sherlock-ish" 

[dubbel zout]

Yeah I know the actor is British

 

Technically, Ioan Gruffudd is Welsh, but your larger point remains.

Edited September 26, 2014 by dubbel zout

[Kromm]

Technically, Ioan Gruffudd is Welsh, but your larger point remains.

Welsh ARE British.

 

Heck, even the Scots are still British, although admittedly that almost changed recently.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Kromm

[shapeshifter]

Yeah I know the actor is British but if the character could learn multiple languages and maybe accents? maybe adapt and speak "New Yorker" or at least American. But I guess they wanted to be more "Sherlock-ish"

It would make sense to have the character briefly use an American accent or two as part of his sleuthing around, but my brother-in-law is Welsh, and even though he is just genuinely a good guy, it doesn't hurt that every time he opens his mouth, he charms the birds out of the trees. I think the networks have finally noticed that this is a plus for ratings and stopped making British actors sound American when it's not necessary to the plot. Heck, I don't think it's ever necessary to the plot. On The Glades, Aussie Matt Passmore had to speak with a barely passable Chicago accent just because he was supposed to have lived there before Florida. Maybe the show would have lasted another season if they'd just had him be from down under.

ETA: Simon Baker on The Mentalist has so much charm to spare that maybe they made him do American-speak to tone down the charm. Heh.

Edited September 26, 2014 by shapeshifter

[Trini]

Well, now I want to know what he tells people when they ask about his accent. ($5 says this issue NEVER comes up on the show.)

[DHDancer]

Henry is not claiming to be American. In fact, I don't think he's claimed any particular nationality.   Remember his response to questions about his knowledge base is "Guam".  And NY is a city full of people from everywhere so why assume NY=American accent (and would that be Bostonian, east coast??)   Be grateful he is using an English account vs his native Welsh!!!

 

And BTW, Americans associate British (aka English) accents with intelligence (generalization) so having Henry have his accent builds on that.   Just consider the number of commercials that continue to use an English-accented voice to sell stuff.

[DrLar]

Indeed that he may get the "where you were born/grow up" and come up with excuses not to answer so they can't discover his past... 

[Kromm]

Well, now I want to know what he tells people when they ask about his accent. ($5 says this issue NEVER comes up on the show.)

I don't see why it would have to.  Various British accent variants are hardly unknown in New York City (in fact it being a Welsh accent likely helps a lot because people will be JUST unfamiliar enough with it to not make anything of any old-timey speak on his part, but not so rare that they'll really push on his background). If it did come up, as long as he can show citizenship (clearly fake./forged---since he probably has to reinvent his identity every 25 years or so at the outside) he's golden.

[Guest Accused Dingo]

Finally got atound to waychonh this. Bettet than i expected but not sure how long i will keep up with it. I like that the female lead is damaged as hell and if the kerp that up I may kerp watching. What i like most is Abe. Henry and Abe's relationship is the most intetesting thing about the show.

[ABay]

The voice overs, as many have noted, are annoying. Gruffudd is pretty, as many have also noted. And it's a good thing because I think he's the weak link. Well. Him and the writing. There's just something about his delivery, and I don't mean the adorable accent, that seems out of step with the rest of the show.

[peanutbunny]

I would much rather he use his native Welsh accent - as sexy as the English accent is, I love the Welsh accent a little more.

[Granny58]

I've never seen New Amsterdam OR The Mentalist so I have nothing to compare.  I loved it!  I will def be watching.

[ladyrott]

I missed the premier but enjoyed episode 2.  I like most of the characters and their relationships to one another.  The female cop's unwavering faith in whatever crazy stuff Morgan comes up with got on my nerves a little (I want to see at least a little doubt once in a while).  Did the pilot reference what was going on with female cop as far as her personal life?  I feel like I am missing some important bit of information every time the boss talks to her.

[WendyCR72]

I missed the premier but enjoyed episode 2.  I like most of the characters and their relationships to one another.  The female cop's unwavering faith in whatever crazy stuff Morgan comes up with got on my nerves a little (I want to see at least a little doubt once in a while).  Did the pilot reference what was going on with female cop as far as her personal life?  I feel like I am missing some important bit of information every time the boss talks to her.

 

In the pilot, ladyrott, we discover that Jo wears her wedding ring around her neck as her husband had died, I think she said a year ago. So Jo is still grieving.

[rereader2]

Eh, it's silly but fun, and it's a pleasant place to rest the eyes for an hour. I'm in for now.

 

(But they do have to explain the super-observer stuff--how does not-dying make you a super-observer? Sherlock--in both canon and the BBC series--spent years training himself, it didn't just happen!)

[dargosmydaddy]

 

But they do have to explain the super-observer stuff--how does not-dying make you a super-observer? Sherlock--in both canon and the BBC series--spent years training himself, it didn't just happen!

Well, he has had 200 years to develop the skills... he could have taken the sloooow Sherlock course, and still have come out ahead.

[rereader2]

Eh. *rocks hand side to side*

[tribeca]

Really liked it but I am a sucker for anything to do with a time travel theme.  Yes, I know it's not really time travel but close enough.   No offense but it's kind of funny when people can expect him dying & living 200 years but need to know where his clothes go LOL

[Athena]

As with many others, I watched this only for Ioan Gruffudd. I have followed his career since the first Horatio Hornblower. I had a big crush on him back in the day and have tried bravely to follow him to his American work. It's been a challenge since all his American TV attempts have been cancelled and are full of cheese. At least he doesn't have an American accent and he gets to wear period piece costumes. So yay?

 

I didn't mind it as an episode and I'll keep watching for a bit. Positives: Ioan, Ioan in nice clothes, Abe, period piece settings, and the female cop is not bad. I think Henry and her achieved a decent platonic chemistry. The only scene where she was decent was their bar drinking scene.

 

My negatives are that it feels like every other English man in America procedural (including "House" even if House isn't English), but it hasn't found its place yet. It's not that well shot for a NYC based shot. The period scenes looked out of place. Dialogue was mostly standard for a pilot so time will tell if we get the feel. Abigail has a bad English accent. I don't like the big bad already or the idea of him. 

 

So I'll move to the other episodes, but Ioan will only get me so far. I do admit I loved the Abe reveal at the end and Henry's kiss on his head. Aww. 

[BrokenRemote]

Hey, it worked for Castle. (Sorry, I just have never thought that Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic have anything in the way of romantic chemistry, but it's going into Season 7, so...)

 

I enjoyed this. It's fluff with an immortal angle. (This coming from someone who loved another show about an immortal with Forever in its title (Forever Knight in the '90s with vampire Nick Knight...anyone else remember that?)) And hey, Ioan Gruffudd is very very nice eye candy, if nothing else. And it was nice to see Judd Hirsch again. I liked Alana De La Garza on Law & Order, but I'm not sure I buy her as a borderline alcoholic cop with the weight of loss on her shoulders, but it's early yet. So I'll withhold judgment for now.

 

But is it me, or (if there are any Bones watchers or former watchers here) does Joel David Moore just play Fisher here in an ME setting instead of at the Jeffersonian Lab? I guess if it works, why change it?

 

Other than that, this will never win awards, but there's nothing wrong with fluff TV. Time will tell if it'll be good fluff or forgotten fluff. But I'll (literally) tune in tomorrow to find out...

I know this is an old post, but I had to reply.  My sister and I watched Forever Knight, and several times now she's commented that she thinks Forever is the heir to that show.  There are a lot of similarities, and the feel is somewhat the same as well.  That show was cheesy a lot of the time, but I always loved it anyway.

[zannej]

I'm late replying as well. I have to agree with the Forever Knight thing. There are some similarities. LeCroix was always trying to get Nick to embrace his immortality and to treat people like fodder. He stalked Nick for awhile before they patched their relationship. So I see that being similar to the dynamic for Adam and Henry.

 

I'm glad someone else noticed that. I was so sad with the way that show ended.

 

I noticed that Henry seemed to have a bit less fear of death in the pilot and he killed someone in the pilot (knocking the killer off the roof), albeit it was to save more lives. But in a later episode he claims he never killed anyone.

 

I had a huge laugh that he claimed to have gone to medical school in Guam. There is no medical school in Guam. I mentioned this in another thread... Medical treatment there is awful and the coroner couldn't tell human bones from dog bones (not sure if that guy is still coroner though). It was a lovely place with some great hiking places and WW2 history. People were mostly very nice. When we were driving around exploring the island some locals ran up and invited us to come eat with them. They were having a "fiesta" (basically a family/friend gathering with lots of food). They didn't know us, but they wanted to feed us. LOL. 

 

He'd have been better off saying he got medical training in Singapore.

 

I actually missed the pilot but saw later episodes and got to watch the pilot when it aired again. Its an interesting show and I enjoy it.

[slothgirl]

I had a huge laugh that he claimed to have gone to medical school in Guam.

 

He'd have been better off saying he got medical training in Singapore

 

Maybe the showrunners were thinking of Grenada.

[theatremouse]

I actually wondered if they intentionally chose a real place but with no actual medical schools, not as a plot point to be found out later, but perhaps to avoid comparison to actual institutions. No "oh maybe they said X but really mean this school" kind of thing. It's not completely unheard of for shows to do that. It's confusing if you're actually paying attention/looking for clues, but it might be this is a very intentional "suspend disbelief here" plot point.

[shapeshifter]

theatremouse, yes, one of my daughters' best friends actually went to nursing school in Guam for awhile, and they do have pre-Med. And one of the undergraduate students where I am a librarian planned to go to medical school in the Caribbean, IIRC, because there was no MCAT requirement. So it wouldn't be too much of a fictional stretch, and could be used to represent a professionally disdained medical school as a good cover for any lack of current medical knowledge that Henry might have.

Either that or Henry was just being cryptic and sarcastic? I don't recall, who asked him?

[theatremouse]

I don't remember whether someone asked him. I thought Jo made an offhand remark, like after reading his file or something and said something like "Guam, huh?" I really just interpreted it as "far enough away and familiar enough that it's recognizeable but not so recognizeable that most people he interacts with are likely to have thoughts on the place besides he was in the middle of nowhere for a while." I can't decide if it's a better idea to hide in a giant metropolitan area or a smaller not-well-known place. Seems like you find one person from the latter, could debunk your whole story...but maybe he's banking on it lending itself to less asking. Or maybe he actually was there for a while and it's documented, so even though it's not true it's more easy to look true on whatever paper he has.

 

Alternately, it'd be hilarious if he actually did go to medical school all over again ever 30 years. A) he'd stay up to date on current practices (not that doctors don't need to do that in general as time goes by) but B) he'd have actual credentials. Which would bring me back to the "it's an intentional/unintentional continuity error" rather than something to be "found out as impossible" later theory...

Edited January 3, 2015 by theatremouse

[zannej]

It was either Jo or her superior who asked "Where did you go to medical school" and he said "Guam". Nursing and actual medical school are very different beasts though. I believe it takes about 13 or 14 years go become a medical examiner. They generally have to practice as regular doctors first and then take specialty courses in dealing with cadavers and such.

I imagine Henry reads a lot of medical journals, but you'd think he would have to re-learn some of the stuff because there have been a hell of a lot of medical advancements in the past 200 years. 

 

I suspect the writers didn't really know much about Guam and just threw it out there. While it is a small island, not everyone knows each other though. There are military bases and a lot of the military personnel come and go frequently. Many of the locals are somehow related to each other. When I was there, the Calvos were one of the largest families on island. The Ada family was pretty large as well.