Like you, I was blown away by ...
Question: Like you, I was blown away by the pilot of
The Nine. But it slowly fizzled on me, and I think I finally figured out what happened. I think that the writers were trying to write the show as if it had already been picked up for a full second season, and so they were building a lot of context without any real "bang." Do you think this is what happened, and have there been other shows that you think have fallen into this trap? Other compelling shows, like
Heroes, build context while still packing a punch. I think that's one of the reasons that
Heroes has done so well: It really keeps you coming back with its constant cliff-hanger endings. It reminds me of the first seasons of
Lost and
Alias. No matter how implausible it seemed, you
had to know what happened next.
Answer: The show that held
The Nine's time period last season suffered much the same criticism: Initially it didn't move fast enough, and the payoffs were too subtle to keep viewers coming back.
Invasion remedied that problem in the second half of the season, by which time it was too little, too late. Although in retrospect, ABC's cancellation of that show looks more and more like a bad call. In a season where
Heroes took off like a rocket, I'm thinking more people might have caught on to
Invasion, especially once all of the intrigues were out in the open. Ah, well. Back to
The Nine. I'm not sure I agree that the producers were thinking so far ahead that it affected their storytelling in the first season. But it's a fact that the early episodes fell far short of the expected dramatic impact that the brilliant pilot had promised.
On another Nine note, here's this from Adam W.: "I've watched The Nine and, for the most part, have enjoyed it. While the story has been slow to develop, I feel the show is well-structured and the producers have an idea about what the endgame will be. However, what is a viewer to do when a show like this is on the cusp of cancellation? Do I even bother to watch the remaining episodes when they air, or do I abandon it knowing there will be no resolution to a story that was obviously written to play out over many seasons?"
That's an individual choice, and it really depends on your devotion to a particular show. I now get a lot of frustrated mail from viewers of this season's canceled serials (
Kidnapped,
Vanished,
Smith) who seem to have mixed reactions to following their shows online once they've been kicked off the air. Personally, I haven't bothered with any of them. Out of sight, out of mind. I wasn't that invested in any of the stories to follow them into digital limbo. If
The Nine does end up airing its remaining episodes on ABC prime time, I may check back in. Although, when one has limited time, it really doesn't make much sense to invest it in a dead-end program unless you really, really care. If I were still as big a fan of
The Nine as I was when it premiered, I bet I would have gone out of my way to watch whatever I could, whenever or wherever I could.
