I have fallen utterly in love with the new FOX TV horror series ‘The Passage’ based on the trilogy series written by Justin Cronin and adapted by Liz Heldens (‘Friday Night Lights’). This Monday we are very excited to have Kecia Lewis who plays Lacey Antoine the nun turned warrior who trained Brad call in the show.
S1 E3 That Never Should Have Happened to You Review (no spoilers)
Well Brad and Amy are in the THICK of it after being captured by Clark but they still haven’t given up on escaping. The episode really digs in deep on the spider web tendrils Fanning is weaving on not only his fellow virals but all of the people working on ‘Project Noah’. It’s getting real for Major Nichole Sykes when she lays eyes on Amy for the first time and gets that ‘Tuskegee Study’ feelings as a Black woman looking at a Black child (the guilt that washed over her face shows she HAS a heart but will she use it) brought to be experimented on by HER <scream>. Fanning is still walking in dreams plotting against the Project Noah staff and recommending Shauna Babcock how to manipulate Clark Richards as well as why she has a soft spot for him. Brad also has a throw away line to Clark that if you don’t pay attention you might miss BUT it looks might important as to why they aren’t the friends they used to be.
This is a great episode really giving us an opportunity to know some of the cast a little better and giving a backstory that makes they characters (some of them a little sympathetic) but the heart and soul is the bond between Brad and Amy. It’s the two of them against the world as they both heal each others broken hearts and shattered souls looking for replacements for unimaginable heartache. Saniyya Sidney and Mark-Paul Gosselaar are living these roles and from looks to moments of silence to expressions in their eyes they are making these characters come to life.
If you haven’t watched the series catch up on the FOX Tv app or Hulu and then join myself and co-panelists every Monday at 8PM PT to discuss the episode and join in the chat to add your two cents.
Based on author Justin Cronin’s best-selling trilogy of the same name, THE PASSAGE is an epic, character-driven thriller written by Liz Heldens (“Friday Night Lights”).
Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner and Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Ridley Scott (“The Martian,” “Gladiator”) and writer/director Matt Reeves (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Cloverfield”), THE PASSAGE focuses on Project NOAH, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all disease, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race. When a young girl, AMY BELLAFONTE (Saniyya Sidney, “Fences,” “Hidden Figures”), is chosen to be a test subject, Federal Agent BRAD WOLGAST (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, “Pitch”) is the man who is tasked with bringing her to Project NOAH. Ultimately, however, Wolgast becomes her surrogate father, trying to protect her at any cost.
Brad and Amy’s journey will force them to confront Project NOAH’s lead scientists, MAJOR NICHOLE SYKES (Caroline Chikezie, “The Shannara Chronicles”) and DR. JONAS LEAR (Henry Ian Cusick, “Lost”), as well as the hardened former Navy Operative CLARK RICHARDS (Vincent Piazza, “Boardwalk Empire,” “Rescue Me”), whom Brad trained. It likewise brings them face-to-face with a dangerous new race of beings confined within the walls of Project NOAH, including former scientist TIM FANNING (Jamie McShane, “Bosch,” “Bloodline,” “Sons of Anarchy”) and death-row inmates SHAUNA BABCOCK (Brianne Howey, “The Exorcist”) and ANTHONY CARTER (McKinley Belcher III, “Ozark,” “Mercy Street”). In seeking out any allies he can find, Brad also turns to his former wife, DR. LILA KYLE (Emmanuelle Chriqui, “Entourage,” “Murder in the First”), for help.
But as Project NOAH’s scientists hone in on a cure that could save humanity, these new beings begin to test their own powers, inching one step closer to an escape that could lead to an unimaginable apocalypse.
THE PASSAGE is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. The series is written by Liz Heldens. Heldens, Matt Reeves, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Adam Kassan and Jason Ensler are executive producers. Marcos Siega served as an executive producer on the pilot, and he and Ensler directed the series premiere.