Let me start by saying that I...

Let me start by saying that I am about as secular as they come. So this is just another TV show to me, folks. Which is as it should be, I think, critically speaking. That said, gee, you think the NBC folks were paying attention to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ success? That might explain this Hail Mary (you can read that both in a prayer and a football sense) shot at pandering to the newly discovered religious audience, might it not?

I'll admit to being impressed early on with some of the creepy details murderous Satanist Isaiah Haden snaps his fingers and stops airplane turbulence etc. though I can't figure out why he and Dr. Massey (Bill Pullman) are on the same flight. But while I understand the advantages of casting pretty faces in lead roles, just once I'd like to see a big role for a nun who doesn't look as beautiful as Natascha McElhone. How about, for instance, one who looks like The Blues Brothers' Penguin?

Oh, wow here's an odd development. It requires two lightning strikes to take out the little girl on the golf course? Like being blasted up into a tree after the first isn't being certain enough; better zap her back out of the branches just to make sure? (You think the Almighty wrote both shots down on his score card?)

"Doubt is healthy. I believe in doubt." says Sister Jo (McElhone). "Good, because I brought plenty with me," replies Dr. Massey. OK, people. My buddy-movie alert just went off. "Believe whatever you want to," Massey says later. "Or deny whatever you want to," counters Sister Jo. See? And talk about playing to a target audience. "It is they who are making a living out of this by cutting out her organs!" says Sister Jo, condemning the doctors who want to "harvest" the comatose girl's organs while they're still viable. Uh... am I the only who finds it just a tad heavy-handed to portray organ donation as some kind of ghoulish business venture?

But I suppose one could argue that turnabout's fair play. Churchgoers have had to watch their share of evil priests, preachers and whatnot in movies and on TV over the years. They also had to put up with Caleb on Buffy, not to mention The Flying Nun. Touché... I guess.