With Amazon Originals releasing ten pilots I felt obligatory to watch them seeing as I have a LoveFilm subscription enabling me to watch these for free, also those with Amazon Prime can watch along as well. After reading the synopsis of the majority the few that caught my attention were The After, The Rebels, and Transparent.
The After
"From Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Eight strangers are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation."
The pilot opens up with Gigi (Louise Monot) in the midst of a nightmare only to be brought back to surface with the ring of her phone, we learn from this conversation that she is preparing for an audition later that day. It is only until after the audition when the ball starts rolling, the mood changes when we cut to five individuals who seem to be trapped in a lift, including Gigi, team together to work a way out, finding newcomers along the way also trying to escape what they believe is a power outage.
Some viewers have pointed out that
The After has underlying
X-Files themes, however I unfortunately am not from that cult generation so I cannot compare but I must say it is definitely a mix of
Survivors (2008) meets
Lost. Those who are not familiar with either shows I will make a brief summary,
Survivors is a remake of the 1975 BBC version focusing on a group of various ages banding together after an outbreak of a virus which they are immune to, one of the members in this group Abby (Julie Graham) instigates a search party to find her son who went on a school trip when the outbreak began. From what I can gather so far from the pilot I presume Gigi will do the same to find her family with the help of the group she is now part of. Lost on the other hand is about a group of people who become stranded on an unmarked island by strange forces, whose lives interlink connecting them together without each others knowledge. Again this is similar to the group who by coincidence all manage to be at the same place at the same time sharing the same birthday and the tattoos they share with the mystifying biblical creature.
The characters were the most generic and predictable, firstly we have Gigi Gerenau, a mother fighting for her family but before she can go any further on her quest she must comply to the promise she made and sometimes make irrational decisions, Marly (Jaina Lee Ortiz) a police woman commanding the orders while processing why she is not receiving them, Dee (Aldis Hodge) a escapee prisoner innocent of his crimes redeems himself by showing the group how selfless he is, McCormick (Andrew Howard) an over the top Englishman boozing and swearing at anyone in his paths way with a violent temper, Wade (Adrian Pasdar) the lawyer who thinks about himself and will most likely leave if things get out of control, Tammy (Arielle Kebbel) a ditsy blonde escort with religious values, David (Jamie Kennedy) the clown that nobody takes seriously but is a lovable character, and finally the Velma of Scooby Doo Francis (Sharon Lawrence) an unexpected millionairess who may just end up slowing the group down.
For a pilot it definitely makes its mark showing it clearly has potential, however the uncertainty of a full series relies on the audience feedback.
The Rebels
"An Amazon Original Pilot: Julie (Natalie Zea) is in over her head when her husband suddenly dies leaving her as sole owner of The LA Rebels, a pro-football team."
This quirky comedic half an hour show opens up with the main character Julie (Natalie Zea) attending her husbands funeral only for the coffin to be dropped midway, cuts straight into the opening credits with an up beat theme tune, this opening act sets up for what is to be perfectly placed comedic timing throughout the show.
For starters I could predict where the plot was heading by the end of the episode, but as I continued to watch the characters became likable and gutsy. Especially Danny (Josh Peck) who at the beginning became unsure of his newly appointed position and tried to make the best out of that situation, but it wasn't only until the end that he had showed everybody what he was capable of by defending his team which garnered him respect from his previously unfriendly employees.
It is apparent that Rick Massella (Hayes MacArthur) will be a possible romantic interest to Julie further down the line, but for now they it is likely they will remain argumentative towards each other.
Including monkeys seems all the range now seeing as they are mostly associated with the Hangover trilogy, I did find it irrelevant to incorporate a monkey however seeing as there motives are always random it does seem fitting to add one into a comedy drama.
Overall The Rebels doesn't try too hard to be funny, nor does it become excessive to the point of irritation. In a way it has similar aspects that reminds me of Episodes (2011) as some of the characters share the same trait of being socially awkward which translated on screen becomes hilarious.
Transparent
"Created by Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under, United States of Tara). An LA family with serious boundary issues have their past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes everyone's secrets to spill out."
As the title suggests
Transparent opens up with a family living apart struggling at this current point in their lives but are oblivious to see each others problems however clear they are.
This pilot battles with everyday issues bringing them to the audiences attention, it's more or less an adult version of Modern Family.
It feels as if this was meant to be an indie film instead of a stretched out series, though I see the reason why it was made for TV rather than film, as with TV you have the option to explore further into these issues.
There were a few scenes that initially you knew where they were going to lead, but other than that another promising pilot.
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You can find these pilots and more on LoveFilm or Amazon Prime.
