Outcasts

[Pro]

Anyone started watching this?

I had no idea it was a sci-fi when i ran across it.
And then Jamie Bamber walked into the colony with a backpack.
For a second i thought i was watching a sequel to Battlestar Galactica since Apollo was going to go backpacking across earth at the end. :p.

Not sure where they're going with this but i hope it's a lot better than Earth 2, the series that's probably closest related plotwise.

[Conn Seanery]

Liking it so far. You have to think it's leading to a showdown between the colonists and the outcasts (as well as a political challenge to the presidency), but then it seems like there might be another threat out there.

[Pro]

Liking it so far. You have to think it's leading to a showdown between the colonists and the outcasts (as well as a political challenge to the presidency), but then it seems like there might be another threat out there.

The hostage situation going as bad as it did will no doubt worsen the situation. And yea it seems they're alluding to another threat, possibly native.

[Charles RB]

Some of the dialogue and plot beats are weak, but overall it's a rather interesting show with good acting, an interesting and plausible setting, and lots of tension being built up.

My only problem is I'm thick and can't tell if Liam Cunningham is talking in his normal accent or attempting a Scottish one.

[Pro]

Some Wiki info:

Outcasts is set in the middle of the twenty-first century on Carpathia, a "Goldilocks" planet five years' travel from Earth, which is being colonised by progressive evacuations following nuclear warfare on Earth. Most of the planet's population live within the pioneer town of Forthaven, first settled ten years ago. The Carpathians live in ignorance of Earth's fate, receiving news only through the few evacuee transporter ships that successfully achieve the difficult atmospheric entry to Carpathia.

[king mob]

It should be good, and it should work but it seems like a massive waste of time and energy, and it's a bit sad to see the BBC turning out fairly generic genre programmes when there's a sparcity of quality drama.

[Pro]

Good episode.
They build up the whiteout as a big threat and it delivered.
A number of the characters also clicked into place for me more so than before.

[adamthered]

I'm trying to decide if I want to check it out or not. One hand, I enjoy Eric Mabius and Jamie Bamber's work, on the other, I hear the story is somewhat lacking.

[Pro]

I'm trying to decide if I want to check it out or not. One hand, I enjoy Eric Mabius and Jamie Bamber's work, on the other, I hear the story is somewhat lacking.

It is definitely taking its time to get cranking but it has potential, would probably be fair to say. There's a lot of background material that slowly comes to the fore as the series progresses and the characters take some time to develop but they're getting slowly more defined.

[king mob]

I'm trying to decide if I want to check it out or not. One hand, I enjoy Eric Mabius and Jamie Bamber's work, on the other, I hear the story is somewhat lacking.

It's all very fine and proper but it's painfully dull, plus the thing feels very much like it's been done better elsewhere, which is a pity as there is a gap in BBC schedules for a decent genre drama. I just don't feel this is it.

[Pro]

Humanoid bones, the dog, the president's visions, the old guy talking about the planet telling him things. Something odd is going on. With these latest revelations I wonder if Jamie Bamber's character might return at some point.

Next episode looks promising as well.

Series started slow but I'm starting to get more interested.
More factions are revealed and things are heating up.
Strange supernatural events, a labrador ghost dog, a group of people stranded on a distant planet, possibly the last of their kind to make a getaway from their nuked planet, an atheist society with genius doctor Julius spreading religion, a race of cloned slave beings who rose up against their masters.

I'm getting a Lost meets Galactica vibe. :p.

[Muggs]

I really wanted this to be great, because as King Mob pointed out there is a gap in the BBC schedules for a decent genre drama. Outcasts isn't it though.

It's been very slow and dull so far, although I thought episode 5 was decent and next weeks looked okay in the preview. Unfortunatley it all seems to be too little, too late. The show's been bleeding viewers and the BBC are moving it to a late night slot on Sundays for the the last 3 episodes.

I don't know if its offically been cancelled, but I wouldn't be suprised.

[Pro]

Unfortunatley it all seems to be too little, too late.

Yea 4 whole episodes ...
They're actually putting a lot of plot points in the episodes that are going to be interesting when followed up. That might be a more valid problem with the series than its perceived slowness.

We've had:
-Expatriate taking his son hostage and dies. Oddly enough the series best actor.
-White outs
-Transport burning up in atmospheric re-entry
-The survivors include the scientist who set up the whole exodus from earth.
-Living humanoids on the planet?
-Religious faction rising.
-The clones, who can have babies, who want Tate dead for ordering their destruction.
-The expatriates, the trailblazers who don't feel comfortable with Tate's rule
-Humanoid fossils.
-Ghosts of dead people and dogs.
-Baxter's claim that the planet is not what it seems, that they don't understand.
-The arrival of a new faction that is bound to shake things up.

It's not so much that it is slow in general. Where its perceived slowness stems from is that it is fast in setting up plotpoints but it needs to work some out before putting up even more. I'm hoping that the season finale, which is in 3 episodes i think, focuses primarily on the conflicts between the established factions and ends with a changed status quo.

As a general note I think the television audience needs to learn patience.
Anyone remember the first episodes of Star Trek TNG? Cringeworthy at times.

[Muggs]

The thing is those first 4 episodes are like goldust. Especially when it comes to genre TV being shown on the main channel of British television.

The british public lap up stuff like police & crime shows and historical dramas, but when it comes to sci-fi/fantasy/horror alot turn their noses up at it.

So does the BBC for that matter. It took them years to be convinced to bring back Dr Who, and even with all the success its had they still keep trying to screw with it.

I like (a) good slow burning plot(s) as much as the next guy, and they have set up some interesting stuff. But with the way most British tv shows are structured in terms of amount of episodes, compared to american TV some stuff needs to payed off straight away.

[Pro]

You are probably right.

I was just saying that I don't think the problem with the series so far is a lack of events. Plenty of things happen, but the series has not focused on any one thing and resolved anything yet. So despite lots of seeds being sown we're still basically waiting for them to blossom. Hence me hoping the next three episodes this season focus more on the factions they've been building up so far: The expatriates, the Believers, the atheist government, the AVs rather than creating more unsolved mysteries.