It's never too soon to worry about ratings when shows are getting pulled after 4-6 episodes these days.

marpocky | April 18, 01:53 CET

The numbers ARE in for Monday, though.

Alex's part in this episode was fantastically done, I thought. And his new car? Vroom vroom.

gossi | April 18, 01:55 CET

I'm not liking Alex Tully the way they are portraying him so far.

Highlight to see what I mean:
Basically, he is the opposite side of the same coin as Malcolm Reynolds. Malcolm seems to me like a genuinely nice and compassionate guy hardened by his surroundings, where Alex Tully seems like a hardened tough guy on a temporary nice streak. Maybe they will give a reason for his involvement in a deadly robbery but it better be good.

Anyone else think they are going to come up with explanations for every character as to why they were picked to be in a driving competition? I'll be curious to see the Father's (who is my second favorite character so far) and the woman with the baby's.

Superrodan | April 18, 04:13 CET

I'm glad Tully is the opposite of Mal. Who wants to see a repeat? He seems like a very dark guy trying to clean up his act and live right. Desperation is pushing him back. I am absolutely fascinated by him. Unfortunately, most of the other characters...not so much.

[ edited by MALicious on 2007-04-18 04:11 ]

Ninja MALi | April 18, 04:54 CET

My thoughts on the most recent episode, "Let the Games Begin"? I'll copy my post from DotOrg...

Well dammit, I was just starting to fall in love with the idea that Cap'n Tightpants... er, I mean Alex Tully was gonna run the whole race in his beat up, clunker of a spaceship... oops, I mean truck. We could have had the episode where the ol' Landscaper blows the catalyzer on the port compression coil and all her life support systems shut down. Then Ma... um, Tully would have to send Corinna ahead on her own while he stays behind in the truck, coasting along the highway with no power until some disreputable tow truck driver shows up to salvage him and they end up fighting over a replacement part.

Or the one where Detective Ehrle (yes, that really is his name on the show, Ehrle... as in "Early") sneaks onto the truck and subdues the entire crew (e.g. Tully and Corinna) and Wendy has to pretend to be a disembodied spirit possessing the vehicle and scaring the detective into jumping ship.

But alas, the ol' girl is for the scrap heap now. Tully and his crew have moved onto a sleeker, faster model.

I just hope it doesn't have a Cappisen 38 engine. Those things fall right out of the sky.

Haunt | April 18, 06:36 CET

I haven't had time to read the reviews or even the comments on the other "Drive" threads, so I'll just throw in my personal observations. I thought it was a bit of a slow starter, but one of the main problems in getting a really quality show on network TV is that people don't have the patience to give a show a chance to evolve. So that may actually end up being a plus. But after having watched the entire first three hours, I'm hooked.
And I have to say, I think the Alex/Malcom comparisons are *so* unfair. (See you on the White, Haunt:) There will never be another Mal, and Nathan Fillion should not be saddled with that legacy. This is a completely different show, in spite of comparisons that could, with enough stretch, be drawn almost anywhere, on any show .... there are only so many possible variations on so many possible themes and characters/story lines, yadayadayada.
I love that Alex apparently has a past we know nothing about and that is much darker than the heretofore basic blandness of the character. And I love the subtlety in how Nathan played that revelation, at the end of the third hour. And I *so* love his hot new ride :) Alas, all my love is probably in vain, but at this point I'm very much looking forward to next week. One minor quibble.... too many characters, we need a dose of Joss here to thin out the herd.
This thread has a red "Spoiler" tag, so I hope I haven't said anything out of line, as I can't begin to figure out how to do the "invisible" thingy.

Shey | April 18, 07:10 CET

The first three episodes of Drive are now available for download on iTunes. I'd post a thread but am not sure what I'd link to. Anyway, iTunes seems to me a good way to potentially help build an audience. Didn't The Office (American version) flourish first with the help of iTunes?

phlebotinin | April 18, 07:26 CET

I'll be curious to see the Father's (who is my second favorite character so far)

I'm curious that he was slighted in the opening credits - methinks he hasn't got many episodes left.

I also am troubled by Tully's past. He instantly became an unsympathetic character to me; I'm hoping he finds redemption.

napua | April 18, 08:08 CET

"Unsympathetic character," really? I don't feel that way. The show went out of its way to make clear that he wasn't the thief/shooter and he was just the getaway driver. I think what's going to become clear is that he was coerced/duped/forced into being the getaway driver (or maybe he was young and believed nothing would go wrong), and that when everything DID go wrong, he turned in the thieves. The transition from hotshot racecar driver to mild-mannered landscaper in Nebraska jsut reeks of witness protection program, to me.

Septimus | April 18, 09:53 CET

Hmmm, witness protection. I had not thought of that, Septimus. But, Alex's sister was in Nebraska, too -- do they let you bring along family? But, he still might have turned in the shooters -- maybe with an anonymous phone tip or something. I agree with other posters, the wheel man is not the same as the shooter. But if the series (and Alex along with it) are not going to be morally ambiguous, hey, where's the fun? ;-)

billz | April 18, 14:58 CET

What billz said, about the morally ambiguous :)

Shey | April 18, 15:13 CET

I doubt Tully turned in his "partners." After all, he said he never leaves his partners behind. I think he was a really bad person in the past, but managed to turn his life around. He looks at the old and new Alex Tullys as separate individuals, telling Corinna that "they didn't do it to him, they did it to some other guy" when she asked them what they did to him. I will be very interested to see how he behaves during the bank robbery in this Monday's episode.

And lord no, don't water down his moral ambiguity (nor Winston Salazar's)! His fascinating character is what keeps me coming back for more.

[ edited by MALicious on 2007-04-18 18:20 ]

Ninja MALi | April 18, 21:13 CET

I'm loving Drive so far. They need to change the intro credits though. The song isn't great and it just shows people in cars looking at each other. If I didn't know about Tim Minear, I would never watch this show based on the opening credits. It in no way demonstrates the excitement and mystery of the show.

Succatash | April 18, 22:49 CET

Succatash,

I totally agree. 100%. I can see where they are trying to go with those credits but they are somehow missing the mark. Great opening credits can be an indicator of a great show. Take the opening credits for 6 Feet Under and Rome for example. Or even the Sopranos. It's totally about the song with that intro.

They need to give some 'ummph' to the opening credits. This show has a lot action in it. It's a race, after all. The 'urgency' factor just isn't translating. Not that I'm suggesting they go all 'Dukes of Hazzard'...but hey...what's the one thing you remember most about the Dukes? That song and that intro. That's what.

On a another note. The promos for Drive were less than impressive. They weren't very compelling. Maybe that's part of the reason why people didn't tune in to watch the show. I can remember 2 recent show promos that made me want to watch their shows - Dirt and The Riches. So I think better promos and a better intro couldn't hurt.

Unfortunately Dirt and The Riches didn't quite live up to their promos. Dirt just turned out to be crap and the Riches (although good) hasn't been nearly as funny as I thought it would be. Ahh...but now I am just rambling.

[ edited by kerfuffle on 2007-04-18 20:10 ]

kerfuffle | April 18, 23:01 CET

Holy Crap. How could I forget THE BEST show intro EVER - Buffy. I still get amped everytime I see it. I think season 3 or 4 (I forget) was the best version of it.

kerfuffle | April 18, 23:27 CET

Good point, MALicious, about never leaving partners behind. "In a time of war, we would never have left a man behind." Maybe we should be comparing Alex to Zoe, not Mal? ;-)

billz | April 19, 02:48 CET

And more on the Alex/Mal comparisons... talk about a "you wanna meet the real me now?" moment. ;-)

I am loving this show. I heard it got some bad reviews and I'm wondering how that's possible...

Also:


Who needs Joss when you got the Tim Reaper? Don't worry about characters we love living to the end of the race. ;-)

Of course, sounds to me like Fox is going to show the first half of the "split season" and... save the rest for the DVD. At least give us a DVD set this time, I'm still waiting for The Inside...

[ edited by AnotherFireflyfan on 2007-04-19 04:20 ]

AnotherFireflyfan | April 19, 07:15 CET