TV You Should Watch: The Event

The Chinese New Year holiday is in full swing here in Hong Kong and its a time that usually lends itself to getting outside and onto the gorgeous hiking trails which permeate the territory.  However the weather has been cold, rainy, and down right terrible…so what to do?

Perfect weather though for sitting inside, stocking up with plenty of  “comfort” food favorites, finding a new TV show with an arching story line,… and watching the hours fly by.

Our “on demand” station here in Hong Kong is offering a show I was aware of called The Event.  It looked like one of those alien invasion type shows but I was skeptical as it seemed the show was cancelled after a single season.  (Which more often suggests it was really good!)

But did I really want to invest the emotional time into a story and characters that were not sticking around?

Well, lets just watch one we said,  and see…

22 episodes later we were spent!  I can say its unfortunate that smart, intelligent written shows get cancelled while so many others (reality shows anyone?) are in their 4th, 5th, or 10th seasons?

Tammy kept us fed throughout the marathon making her version of “Chipoltle burritos”.  At one point I felt so guilty about eating and sitting that I went down to our apartment lobby and ran back up the stairs to our flat on the 21st floor.  (Then after the next episode I did it again.)

So what is the show about?  I am not going to write a big deal on that other than to say if The X-Files, V, and , 24 were to have a baby together…it would be The Event.  

What I can say was it was comforting to see a new spin on the “space alien” and their intentions on Earth.  Traditionally the extraterrestrial coming to our little planet are evil, who see humans as no more than an infestation to be eliminated i.e. Independence Day, or as the benevolent messiah like character that is persecuted by our human insecurities i.e. ET .


The Event instead presents its aliens…as us.  The show is partially an analogy of Western Imperialism. What if aliens valued us…but not as much as themselves?  And when their interests are jeopardized, how they will make decisions at times which are contrary to their values and mores?  It makes for interesting storytelling to see “good” people making “wrong” decisions.

I was happy that the season ended with a measure of “closure” although they opened up a great new story line for a season 2 that, unfortunately, will never be.

But it gets the “Steve’s TV Shows You Should Be Watching” award so if you get a chance, give it a look.