The J.J. Abrams Show: A Look Back

- by Leo Stableford, 5 August 2015

These days, J.J. Abrams has better things to do with his time than oversee the production of a hit TV series. It wasn't always this way, though, oh no. Back in the day he was the man who brought us the J.J. Abrams show. The most J.J. Abrams-iest of shows that ever existed. Let's savor the good times and reminisce about the bad times in the Abrams mystery box.

J.J. Abrams Show started out with big network fanfare to viewer suspicion. The core character trio didn't make a big impression. Audiences may have expected more than a bland male hero, a kick ass female and a mysterious older dude. There were recurring characters like nerdy comic relief and man with mysterious agenda. These two struggled to challenge the notion that the show was formulaic.

And so it was in the early days. A series of rote "crisis du jour" episodes followed. All peppered with hints of "something bigger" waiting in the wings. This is the classic Abrams "mystery box" tour. The format is, at first, flat enough to appease the network. It promised to reward viewer loyalty by allowing some interesting stuff to peek through. It was ever the way.

Let's be grateful there was never a show featuring something immediately intriguing. For example, time travelling convicts from Alcatraz.  Imagine watching the team from snoozeville capture another of those every week. Imagine the frustration of knowing that there was some deeper notion at work. Imagine watching it break through in the last five minutes of the season finale. Then cancellation. Nothing, no answers, no resolution. Wow, how grating and annoying would that have been?

Let's all offer thanks to the gods of TV that J.J. Abrams show managed to hold it together till the end of season one. Season two, after all, was where things started to heat up.

The classic J.J. Abrams bland show lead.

In many ways it was mysterious older dude who was the break out character. Core fans couldn't help but ask "what is with that mysterious older dude?". In season one the writing team placed him somewhat in the shadows, away from bland male and kick ass female. The network wanted plenty of chances for the audience to see how pretty those two were. After all, who cares about solid character work from a seasoned actor?

Well, as it turned out, the fans were just waiting and hoping for mysterious old dude to get more screen time. In fact, another master stroke was in the introduction of an extensive ensemble. People became involved with the show for this new array of fascinating characters. All the while, the initial leads were up front less and less. No loss there.

Don't get me wrong, kick ass female was a fairly decent actor most of the time. Bland male was best left in the background though. His story lines were always trite and predictable. It was always hard to care about his motivations or that he was a good dude. Not least because his plot points always made him look like a bit of an idiot.

The interesting older man.

Abrams Show, of course, tried to promote the "dark history" angle of kick ass female. After all, for a female to be that kick ass in her mid to late twenties she must have had some bad times behind her. Flashbacks, revelations and character moments combined to bring the facts to light. Kick ass female, it turned out, had a destiny to avert the apocalypse due to some ancient prophecy. Either that or she was just on the run after torching her stepdad's house with the stepdad in it. Or she was left with psychic abilities after being used in unethical drug trails, depending on which alternative universe you were in.

Bland male, for his part, didn't do much except furrow his brow. He also did a nice line in doubting the competency of the other two leads. This all despite the fact that he was, all things considered, pretty useless. His character was billed as some kind of competent hero type, but the writing never bore this out. If Abrams had a weak spot here it was that he was too in love with giving material to kick ass female. Boring male never got a look in or much development to his character.

Not that it mattered when the second season began and the weird stuff began to kick in. By that time the show had spent an entire season spinning its wheels. Because of this, the second season stalled a bit as the writing team got used to the format. Even so, as they used wackier ideas and wrote more for side characters the show became more exciting.

Cruising into the third season the show hit a high. Thank goodness J.J. Abrams Show didn't hit the middle of the writer's strike in its season 3. Otherwise we might have been subjected to poorly thought out plot lines. The whole thing would have been people bickering in a jungle during a weak, truncated season.

Oh, kick-ass female...

As it was, season three is one of the strongest seasons and fan appreciation grew. This, of course, presented the problem that now the network got involved again. This was one of the flagship shows now and the network had a few "notes for improvement".

Suddenly it felt like J.J. Abrams show was at war with itself. There were self-contained episodes that appeared to hark back to the early days. Then there were hints of a return to the larger agenda.

At this point, many people checked out. Nobody who likes one off television was comfortable picking up in season four. Many fans of the serial format from seasons two and three became disillusioned. Sharks were jumped, the show was left a shadow of its former self.

Despite this goodwill, enough remained to round off the series with a final run of episodes. At this point it appeared as if Abrams had already begun making plans to move on to another project. The writing was sloppy. Half the outstanding plot threads were ditched never to be mentioned again.

Towards the end, J.J. Abrams Show was just counting down to the final curtain. Many said that the fans deserved better. Savvy internet pundits pointed out that this decline was inevitable. The "mystery box" approach to scripting tended to leave writers with big problems.

In the end, knowing how to evoke enigma, mystery and grand concepts isn't enough. There needs to be a pay off to go with the plant. Rounding off an ongoing serial with a rushed conclusion isn't going to win long term fans.

A glamour shot of the nerdy comedic relief guy. Looking familiar.

There is still a lot of love for J.J. Abrams show because of its stellar prime. However, the show is never going to compete with the real powerhouses of this golden age of television. Its gimmicks were too obvious and its structure so poorly planned.

Still, at least it wasn't "Heroes", eh?


What was your favorite episode of the J.J. Abrams Show? Who was your favorite hero? Let us know in the comments!

Tagged: movies & TV.

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