©KHAREN HILL/ABC
If you have been watching ABC at all this summer you must have seen at least one advertisement for Defying Gravity. Running advertisement after advertisement you have to think that ABC hopes that Defying Gravity is a hit. Mixing space and Grey’s Anatomy should be the perfect mix for a show shouldn’t it? I wouldn’t call it a great show or a hit too quickly.
Defying Gravity follows the astronauts involved in the Antares project (a six year voyage throughout our universe). The astronauts believe that they are on a mission of science but things might not be as it seems.
I would consider Defying Gravity your basic character drama with a little twist added in. The majority of the show is based on character development. Character development is broken up into training sessions (before the mission) and during the mission. Showing the characters before and during the mission gives us a look into their lives on several different levels and I think it is an interesting new way to look at character development.
A lot of people have called Defying Gravity the Grey’s Anatomy of space. I personally don’t think that is a great comparison since the only similarities is that both are character dramas and both have series relationship problems. There is also a high likelihood that just like Grey’s Anatomy quite a few of the crew will end up hooking up. Other than those few similarities, the style is very different and weekly storylines vary drastically from Grey’s Anatomy.
After the first episode the character development troubles me a little. I like the fact of spreading out the character development between before and during the mission. What I am worried about is the fact that after two hours I don’t find any of the characters to be that interesting. Things could change for the better but in most shows I would already have some favorite characters after two hours/episodes. In Defying Gravity’s case all the characters are pretty average at this point.
As I have already mentioned, there is a twist in Defying Gravity. Things aren’t as they seem. You are probably wondering what I mean by that but I really can’t clarify since I don’t know anything more than that after watching the pilot. There appears to be a sci-fi element to the show that is affecting the mission. It is only slightly addressed in the first two hours but it does interest me since I am a sucker for sci-fi. I am guessing that it will either be a season or series long sci-fi mystery that will explain the whole purpose behind the mission. While it doesn’t make the show considerably better, this sci-fi element is interesting enough to make me give Defying Gravity another chance where it might not have gotten another chance based on it’s character development.
Overall the pilot of Defying Gravity didn’t really give me a whole lot of answers on whether Defying Gravity would be a good show. At this point I would consider Defying Gravity to be a solid character drama with a interesting sci-fi twist. That could change either way though.
If you like character dramas and don’t mind a little sci-fi mixed in, you should check out Defying Gracity tonight on ABC at 9/8 C.
