Showtime’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth”: A TV Review

No need for sheep. We are among friends here. But raise your hand, if you’ve heard Sting’s “Englishman in New York” for the first time, you’re pretty sure the song whose band starts with “I’m an alien / I’m a legal alien” was really planned. Taken literally.

Of course, a song (apparently written by writer Quentin Crisp) is just a sense of alien alienation, of people asking about your approach or fighting for civilization in a civilized country. But it’s a lot more fun if it’s applied to space as well.

It is neither wise nor sensible to establish a connection between aliens from outer space and people crossing the borders of Mexico or Canada. This is basically a prerequisite a foreign nation, FTwo different TV versions Roswell And more science fiction than I can count. This is not to say that entertainment is not a good metaphor and that Showtime The man who fell to the ground He uses the allegory as a solid entry point before seeking to explore more deeply what it means to be human and, beyond that, to be the ruler of the entire planet.

In any case, the sequel to the novel by Jenny Lumet and Walter Tevez by Alex Kurtzman and the cult classic Nicholas Roeg have too many allegorical things in mind and insufficient clarity on how to convey their diverse thoughts on the desperate need for compassion, especially strangers. . Between us. In just four episodes sent to critics, The man who fell to the ground There are at least two or three different shows and there are tonal rhythms that can be confusing. But so far, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s delightful performance keeps the series fun and full of potential.

After opening in the medias res, in which Ejiofor’s character is described as a Bill Gates/Steve Jobs technical genius, we see him arrive naked in the New Mexico desert. He doesn’t speak English and doesn’t understand human behavior. And when he nearly swallowed a hose and tried to consume an obscene amount of water, he was arrested and interrogated by a friendly police officer named “K. Faraday” (Martha Plympton in a small but crucial cameo). He quickly recognizes the language and decides to name him Faraday, allowing me to stop talking about his character in such weird, indirect words.

Faraday decided to contact Justin Falls (Naomi Harris), a former scientist whose cold-blooded failed attempt left him virtually isolated from the internet. Justin struggles to support his ailing father, Joshia (Clark Peters), another former scientist who arrived from the Bahamas as an “alien of extraordinary ability”, and his daughter (Ring Olalie).

But maybe Justin’s cold fusion attempts really haven’t failed. He may be the only person who can help Faraday build an energy device created by Thomas Jerome Newton (Bill Nye), a device that has the potential to save Faraday’s dying planet and possibly our dying planet. Yes, Newton is the character played by David Bowie in the movie, and all you need to know is that he came to Earth, used his patents on alien technology to get rich, and disappeared. Faraday needs Justin, but Justin doesn’t want the role of this stranger who seems to be causing trouble wherever he wants him to go.

Kurtzman, who is directing the first four episodes, is no Nicolas Roege and goes to great lengths to replicate the film’s gruesome, beautiful and often surreal imagery. Does not mean The man who fell to the ground Not flashy and deafening, with the extreme camera angle and intrusive sound design that captures Faraday’s perspective on our world. This isn’t exactly surreal, but there are comparable elements of alienation and disorientation to the way Faraday deals with an unknown stimulus, both positive and negative, on our seemingly attacking planet. The pilot in particular is probably the most immersive and distinctive thing I’ve ever directed, with well-used special effects, expressive use of widescreen western faces, and exposed eophora.

you may have to go back crooked boots The last time Ejiofor presented work that relied a lot on that physicality and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one this fun. Faraday’s growing comfort with language gives Ejiofor the opportunity to imitate and make absurd decisions. Pretty sassy, ​​but most of his best moments are calm and reactive as he becomes aware of the attributes and flaws of his human flesh. This is a job that is incredibly weird and yet completely useful every time. Immigration tones add sharpness and notes of nostalgia for Ejiofor’s role. good and dirty things – How to recognize that Faraday’s struggle with social cues and sensory overload is more understandable to others as a characteristic of the autism spectrum.

Ejiofor plays the Terminator with a performance by Buster Keaton and focuses on how Harris Justin resembles Sarah Connor in the highest quality. The first two episodes rely heavily on repeating Faraday’s strong desire to advance his mission and Justin’s confused reluctance. But a growing understanding of his needs and a growing understanding of the concept of compassion creates a dynamic that is both overwhelming and sweet, initially joined by the ever-welcoming Peters and the instantly beloved Olay.

While you have no doubt that Ejiofor’s acting is exactly as funny as he wants it to be, in the first two episodes he uses this humor as a counterbalance to heighten tension rather than something portrayed in the rest of the series.

That changes with the introduction of the badly injured Sonia Cassidy and countless rob Delaney in the third episode as feuding brothers still struggling with the loss of their father and beginning to grapple with the thought of a world they perceive. Would you compare the tone of these next two episodes to AMC’s Precious Dead? inn 49 Wasn’t it Cassidy? Probably not. Did I make this comparison with Cassidy and enjoy lighter, offbeat episodes as a result? Undoubtedly.

Here’s the transition from a ’70s thriller to more Spielberg animated adventures for estranged families and friendly aliens using their magical powers; among other things, Faraday can throw up anything that doesn’t sound right. Like a gift, but sometimes it is: carrying out a spiritual mission while the government’s dark forces hide. Jimmy Simpson Jimmy Simpson is essentially off his show, playing a grinning CIA agent who represents these shadowy government forces.

From the shift in tone and frequency and frequency with which Kurtzmann and Lumet want to move from talking about immigration to global warming to a vaguer cumulative idea of ​​humanity, it’s still not clear to me what. The man who fell to the ground It’s in the big picture. It’s not powerful enough to make you feel like a limited series, nor is it instantly sprawling enough to make you assume there are five or six seasons of material here. With Ejiofor and the growing set, at least, there’s something we need to keep if this “fate of the whole earth and possibly the universe” isn’t as appealing as it should be.