# NBC's "The Event" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494 "2010-09-21T02:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/21 "2010-09-21T03:11:08Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Changed “ABC” to “NBC” in the thread title, thereby making half the jokes in the thread unintelligible. Unintelligibility in a thread about The Event? That’ll never work! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/22 "2010-09-21T03:21:31Z")
It didn’t hold me. I only watched about thirty minutes and just didn’t find myself caring. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/23 "2010-09-21T03:28:02Z")
“So, how many detainees are there?” I was waiting for the answer to be 4400. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/24 "2010-09-21T03:28:58Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > > [@alphaboi867](#): > > > > Okay, I’m watching next weeks episode. I don’t have the any better idea of what the “Event” is than from the previews. Any theories? > > It’s complicated. And in the end 1/2 the people who watched it for years (assuming it doesn’t tank) will bitch about the cop-out ending, 1/4 will defend it vehemently and the rest will argue endlessly about what it all actually means. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/25 "2010-09-21T03:30:18Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > > [@alphaboi867](#): > > > > Okay, I’m watching next weeks episode. I don’t have the any better idea of what the “Event” is than from the previews. Any theories? > > It’s complicated. Well, we’re about to go on a 10-hour hike through the jungle, can you tell me then? … No? OK. I’ll be sure never to ask about this again. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/26 "2010-09-21T03:30:29Z")
It was not quite bad enough for me to turn the channel, and I may watch next week, but I have a sinking feeling that it will get pretty silly before long. Hope I am wrong, but the interaction with the Sky Marshall dosent inspire confidence… (I can suspend disbelief for woo-woo stuff like vortexes, but any Sky Marshall would have dropped that kid instantly, not attempted to talk him into putting his gun down) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/27 "2010-09-21T04:24:05Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > It was not quite bad enough for me to turn the channel, and I may watch next week, but I have a sinking feeling that it will get pretty silly before long. > > Hope I am wrong, but the interaction with the Sky Marshall dosent inspire confidence… > > (I can suspend disbelief for woo-woo stuff like vortexes, but any Sky Marshall would have dropped that kid instantly, not attempted to talk him into putting his gun down) Heh, that’s what got me too. Aliens, vortexes, other stuff like that I can roll with, but that the kid somehow got a gun on the plane and the stuff with the Air Marshall had me laughing. Also the time jumping had me laughing. The episode started with a jump back 23 minutes, then another jump back 11 days. And when they had a flashback to the Dad’s side of the cell phone conversation, they felt the need to show I think the entire conversation again, although it gave us no new information other than just showing the Dad talking instead of the daughter. Overall I thought it was okay, and I’ll probably keep watching, with my expectations set fairly low. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/28 "2010-09-21T04:49:20Z")
NBC had endless promos for this show all summer. It seemed like every one ended with someone intoning dramatically, “We have a problem. He’s going to tell them about The Event.” Drove me crazy. But I’m watching the stupid thing, although I refuse to get sucked into another multi-year mystery like Lost. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/29 "2010-09-21T05:11:03Z")
I’m undecided. The time-shifting thing started to really annoy me. I don’t mind a bit of that, but it got to be a bit much. And every time it came back from the (many) commercials, another actor’s name was on as an opening credit, so it felt like the show started again and again and again. I will give it two or so more episodes. But I didn’t fall in love with it. Aliens? I’m thinking there are aliens in it. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/30 "2010-09-21T05:13:29Z")
I didn’t think it was time shifting. I thought it was more along the lines of different points of view of the same situations, like in **Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.**. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/31 "2010-09-21T10:38:30Z")
I’m takin’ bets! What will be the timeshift value of this thread when _The Event_ gets cancelled?! Will it be “Five weeks ago” or “Six Weeks ago”? All slots open! Pick a square and place your bet! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/32 "2010-09-21T12:40:36Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > I’m undecided. The time-shifting thing started to really annoy me. I don’t mind a bit of that, but it got to be a bit much. And every time it came back from the (many) commercials, another actor’s name was on as an opening credit, so it felt like the show started again and again and again. > > I will give it two or so more episodes. But I didn’t fall in love with it. > > Aliens? I’m thinking there are aliens in it. Those weren’t actor names, they were character names. I’m guessing they put up the character names on the screen just for this episode to help us remember who is who. Which tells you how highly they think of the audience’s intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/33 "2010-09-21T14:43:47Z")
Rushed and fragmented. Multiple levels of flashbacks is annoying. And how much of the same stuff did we see twice? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/34 "2010-09-21T15:17:46Z")
If stubble-boy (and note that no matter when the various flashbacks occured, his stubble was always a uniform length) wanted to stop pilot-dad from doing whatever, why wait until the plane is in the air? Anyway, good thing the Langoliers were ready to disappear the jet. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/35 "2010-09-21T15:18:07Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Rushed and fragmented. > > Multiple levels of flashbacks is annoying. And how much of the same stuff did we see twice? My main complaint. The show is not for me. Its competition has won in this household. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/36 "2010-09-21T17:36:41Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > …Those weren’t actor names, they were character names. I’m guessing they put up the character names on the screen just for this episode to help us remember who is who. Which tells you how highly they think of the audience’s intelligence. The only ones I remember are President Martinez and Sophia. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/37 "2010-09-21T17:40:15Z")
Merged two threads about the show. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/38 "2010-09-21T17:53:05Z")
It was pretty “meh”. I’ll give it another two showings to see if it picks up, or becomes more intelligible. My biggest beef was that all of the actors were easily recognizable from other, similar roles. It made immersion into their new series difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/39 "2010-09-21T18:15:58Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Which tells you how highly they think of the audience’s intelligence. To say nothing of the fact, that they essentially showed all of the entire episode in trailers. I mean, we might have an attention span of 2 months. But for those of us expecting 24 II or Lost II, **we tend to remember stuff** we think will be cool. I think NBC overshot here, and [pardon the pun] lost the target market. NBC put too many eggs in this basket. One review I saw, giving the show a 30 (out of 100) on Metacritic [IIRC] said **“It would have been nice to have some steak with that sizzle.”** ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494/40 "2010-09-21T18:17:17Z")
FTR Blair Underwood is no Dennis Haysbert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbcs-the-event-open-spoilers/554494.md?page=3)