Eleventh Hour TV Pilot Episode Review

On the surface, CBS’ new medical tech/crime show Eleventh Hour doesn’t really appeal to me, in the same way that FOX’s Fringe doesn’t appeal to me. But I have to admit, my curiosity about Eleventh Hour was substantially piqued when they cast the gorgeous Marley Shelton as not just the female lead, but as an ass-kicking FBI agent who is the bodyguard to brooding, brilliant scientist Rufus Sewell. That’s right; the hot chick is the bad ass in this show, and not the other way around as is often the case in these types of shows. That little tweak in what is a pretty formulaic premise was more than enough to get me sufficiently intrigued.

Based on the British TV show of the same name (which starred Star Trek: TNG’s Patrick Stewart in the Sewell role), the American show is brought to us courtesy of uber producer Jerry Bruckheimer. There are a lot of advantages to having your show be produced by Bruckheimer; one, there’s no need to concern oneself with the budget; and two, CBS is more than obligated to give the show a fair shake after the gazillion or so dollars Bruckheimer has made for them over the years. Which explains why Eleventh Hour made its premiere last week behind CBS’ juggernaut of a show, the original CSI. It’s an excellent choice, too; anyone who is a fan of CSI should have an easy time getting into the forensics/science combined with mystery nature of Eleventh Hour.

Eleventh Hour stars Rufus Sewell (“Dark City”), a veteran of more big-screen movies than I can count, who is apparently giving TV a shot as Jacob Hood, a brilliant scientist who works as a special scientific advisor to the FBI. Or somesuch. He explains his job title to a cop early in the show, but to be honest, I didn’t really catch it. Suffice it to say, he works for Uncle Sam, and his job, basically, is to pursue criminals tampering in the world of science, such as illegally trying to clone people, the plot of the show’s pilot episode. Jacob is assisted on his mission by Rachel Young (Marley Shelton), a gun-packing, no-nonsense taking FBI Special Agent. We come to learn that Rachel is the first in a long line of agents assigned to Jacob, the rest having either quit or been driven off by him, apparently. Her job is to keep Jacob alive, since his uncovering of scientific crimes in the past has made him a marked man. When we first see Rachel, she’s taken down a local Detective when he comes up behind her too fast.

The pilot is written by Mick Davis and directed by Danny Cannon (both producers on the show, with Cannon going back to CSI with Bruckheimer), and they deliver a nice, fast-paced introduction to the show and its two leads. Nothing special here, just enough to tell us who these guys are, and establish their respective roles. Fans of FOX’s House will probably enjoy following Jacob Hood, an obsessive and candid protagonist who usually says what’s on his mind, much of the time to the consternation of his more tight-lipped bodyguard. We don’t really get to see who Jacob and Rachel works for, but that will probably be explored in future episodes. Do they have a boss? Who does Jacob answer to? Rachel? After all, every Mulder and Scully has to have their Skinner, and in service of solving their case, Jacob and Rachel take some pretty drastic, and some would say illegal measures in the pilot. Speaking of which, will we see a Cigarette Smoking Man-esque character on the show? A mysterious, oft-talked about character name Gepetto comes close, but doesn’t come across as all that intimidating. The high heels don’t help, I suppose.

One knock that I can see against Eleventh Hour is that it’s not what you would call an explosive or high intrigue show. Ironically, the lack of flash actually makes it stand out from its seemingly identical brethren, FOX’s Fringe. Whereas that show seems to have an inherent slickness about it, Eleventh Hour seems to be eschewing much of the pop in favor of somber characters and even more somber storylines. Having Bruckheimer attached will probably force CBS to give Eleventh Hour all the chance it needs to survive the grueling primetime schedule, and I have a bad feeling it’ll need all the producer support it can muster. The pilot, while decent, probably won’t get a whole lot of people talking around water coolers.

But who knows, Eleventh Hour could surprise me and survive for years anyway. Isn’t that what happened with CBS’s Without a Trace or Cold Case? I swear, I still don’t know anyone who has seen those two shows, and yet they’ve been on forever…

Danny Cannon (director), Mick Davis (writer)
Adam Targum, Mick Davis, Danny Cannon, Jerry Bruckheimer (producers)
CAST: Rufus Sewell … Jacob Hood
Marley Shelton … Rachel Young
Nolan Gould … Johnny Warner
Additional Cast: Marc Blucas, Michael O’Keefe, Kate Nelligan, Colin Lawrence, Damien Leake, Lindsay Pulsipher, Kavita Patil