Crisis - Episode 1.01 - Pilot - Preview: What will you do?

Within just a few days, NBC will premiere its new show Crisis. This political thriller drama is set to air Sundays at 10 pm starting March 16. Its pilot is said to have "tested through the roof in the spring" and together with The Blacklist, they are considered "NBC’s strongest drama pilots of last season". I have been lucky enough to get a screener of the pilot, and I will be reviewing the episodes as well.

Premise
As you have probably heard by now, Crisis is about a group of teenagers getting kidnapped during a school trip. These teenagers are, however, not just any ordinary teenagers: they are the children of some of the most powerful people of Washington, D.C. One of them, for example, is the son of the President of the United States. Needless to say, the hunt for the children and their captors is full on – sending the entire nation in a crisis. As it appears, the captors use the children as leverage against their parents, asking the notorious question: what will you do for your child?

Cast
The series focuses on FBI Special agent Susie Dunn (Rachael Taylor), whose niece Amber (Halston Sage) is among the kidnapped. Her mother is Meg Fitch (Gillian Anderson), CEO of an international IT company and Susie's estranged sister. Susie is one of the many people tasked with finding clues that might lead to the kids. Also looking for the kids is Secret Service Special Agent Marcus Finley (Lance Gross), who was on the security detail of POTUS' son and manages to escape the captors with one of the children. Fortunately, the children have a former CIA officer in their midst in the form of Thomas Gibson (Dermot Mulroney). His daughter Ann Beth (Stevie Lynn Jones) also happens to be one of the kidnapped children.
The rest of the cast involves mostly children or some other adults.

Personal opinion
The premise might sound a bit similar to CBS' Hostages. However, there are quite some differences. You can imagine that the stakes are so much higher on Crisis since it's not just POTUS, but the entire powerful elite of D.C. Another difference is that, while the hostage situation on Hostages was mostly kept under wraps, the crisis situation on Crisis is all over the place. The only real similarity is the central question of the shows: what will you do for your child/children?
I enjoyed the pilot and it's done enough for me to watch more episodes. The question is: how long can they keep it up? Hostages had 15 episodes, some of which were a bit pointless and unnecessary. Crisis has 13, which I am sure can be filled with the material. The writers have already had an unscheduled hiatus after the sixth episode to make sure they stay on the focus of the pilot and don't stray too much away from their premise (something that Hostages might have suffered from as well). While this might be worrisome for some, I just think it's a good sign that the producers can be critical of their own work and rework things if they don’t go as planned.

Back to the pilot. I must say that it sometimes feels a bit rushed. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I had to rewatch the pilot to make sure I hadn't missed anything. I also had trouble keeping some of the teenagers apart from one another as some look a bit alike. I suppose that will improve once I see some more episodes and get used to the characters.
There are two major reveals in the pilot: one about halfway through and the other one at the end. The reveal halfway the pilot is a nice twist that changes the story for certain characters and your view on them. The twist at the end felt a bit rushed, and I had to rewatch it to make sure that it really was a twist. This one includes family issues and changes the motivations of characters.
Of course the pilot also ends in a cliffhanger as one main character gets a phone call and needs to ask himself/herself the question: how far are you willing to go?

Will you tune in to Crisis? Are you looking forward to it? Check out the first promo for the show below, which was released back in May. Various other promos as well as promotional photos can be found on this site. Just look for 'Crisis' under NBC shows and there is tons of material to get you prepared and excited for the premiere! Don't miss it this coming Sunday at 10 pm on NBC!

About the Author - Daniel

Daniel (Veer95) is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS and the upcoming shows Crisis and The 100. He also likes to watch Arrow, The Tomorrow People, NCIS: LA, Nikita, The Blacklist, Under the Dome, Intelligence and Hostages.