Powers Pilot Review: Yes, No, and Maybe

DIEGO'S NOTE: This will be a quick one since it's a bit hectic this week.

Powers is a mixed bag. I wouldn't say anything is outright awful but it seems at war with itself. Is it a noir? The constant bright lighting would suggest otherwise, though plenty of noir tropes can be found here. Or maybe it's not trying to be dark? Then why would it focus on a character who is as tormented as Sharlto Copley's Christian Walker? All these questions still don't deter me from being interested in this world.

The world of Powers follows Christian Walker and his new partner, Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward), as they try to uncover a mystery behind one of Walker's old arch-villains and an unregistered drug that may give people super powers. After being bombarded with exposition for approximately 15 minutes into a 50 minute pilot, the show began to grow on me. Copley sells the torment of Walker as a man who was once super being brought down to Earth but Pilgrim's character seems without purpose. If she were our intro into this world, wouldn't it have made more sense to open up the series with her being welcomed into the Powers Crime Division? The supporting cast is all full of people attractive enough for Primetime TV but without the whole "bad acting" thing. It's still all a big mess for me.

The direction feels wonky, the visuals are shockingly bland, and the dialogue is far too excessive. David Slade, who is the king of direction pilots for shows like Awake and Hannibal (WATCH HANNIBAL), feels restrained, like he wasn't able to go full noir like the aforementioned shows. The visual aesthetic feels like anything on a CBS crime procedural. Brian Michael Bendis is a huge fan of overly complex dialogue like Aaron Sorkin. When these two writers have a clear direction of what their language is supposed to present, they're on fire! When they're off the leash, you get stuff like the Age of Ultron comic and The Newsroom. The overly talky dialogue might work on the page (haven't read the source material) but on the screen it comes across as the actors being unable to speak from too many words. It's too forced.

Every crime drama needs a hook (all shows need hooks but specifically crime stories). The show doesn't have one giant moment where it'll make anybody say "I need to know what happens next!" but I find myself entertained enough to come back for round 2 through 10. The villains are intriguing, Eddie Izzard will probably eat some people (Hannibal throwback?), and Sharlto Copley needs a win after being in CHAPPiE. Quite frankly, we all do.