InsidePulse DVD Review – Threshold – The Complete Series

InsidePulse DVD Review – Threshold – The Complete Series

Creator:
Bragi F. Schut (Average Joe)

Executive Producers:
David Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins)
David Heyman (Harry Potter)
Brannon Braga (Star Trek: Enterprise)

Cast:
Carla Gugino ………. Molly Caffrey
Robert Patrick Benedict ………. Lucas Pegg
Peter Dinklage ………. Arthur Ransey
Charles S. Dutton ………. J.T. Baylock
Brent Spiner ………. Nigel Fenway
Brian Van Holt ………. Sean Cavennaugh

The Show:
With the success of linear shows like ‘Lost’, and science fiction cable shows like ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘The 4400’, ABC, NBC and CBS all had a similar thought – why not make a broadcast network show about alien invaders? As a result, we got ‘Invasion’, ‘Surface’ and CBS’ entry, ‘Threshold’. Packed with a stellar cast and the pedigree of David S. Goyer, it was thought that ‘Threshold’ was the best of the lot. BUT (and there’s always a but) ‘Threshold’ was placed on Friday nights, a traditional death slot for sci-fi shows not called ‘The X-Files’, AND had an executive producer that is somewhat reviled in the sci-fi community – Brannon Braga, a man credited with killing the Star Trek franchise.

OK, maybe he didn’t kill the franchise, but Voyager and Enterprise were black holes of suck. And I won’t mention that the duo on prodigal son series ‘Deep Space Nine’ – Ira Behr and Ron D. Moore – had success on ‘The 4400’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica’ respectively. Oh, wait, I guess I did.

Anyways, anemic ratings caused CBS to shuffle their schedules, and ‘Threshold’ was moved to Tuesdays, where ratings dropped even further, and eventually, CBS gave up on the show.

But was the show that bad? I didn’t think it was horrible, but at times, the show was rather boring, and I didn’t feel that it really lived up to its potential. Let’s take a look at some episodes.

Episodes:

Disc One:
1-1/2, Trees Made of Glass
The pilot showed a lot of potential, as contingency analyst Molly Caffrey is called in to assemble a research team to investigate Navy ship Big Horn that has encountered a mysterious alien object. And of course to ramp up the creepiness factor William Mapother (who of course is creepy just being Tom Cruise’s cousin) has a guest spot as an infected crewman.

1-3, Blood of the Children
The investigation of a man whose head has imploded leads the team to a military academy and a discovery of a potential antibody against the alien invasion.

1-4, The Burning
A mental patient has escaped, and the team thinks that he’s infected because he tore through a 9000 volt fence. And because he drew trees made of glass on the walls, which reflect the dreams Caffrew, Lucas and Cavennaugh have been having.

Disc Two:
1-5, Shock
Molly and Cavnnaugh go undercover as Homeland Security Agents to track down a fugitive crewmember of Big Horn, unaware that the real Homeland Security is also looking for him.

1-6, Pulse
The team investigates a rave in Miami after the alien signal infects some of the ravers.

1-7, The Order
The Red Team investigate the residents of a town who are dreaming of trees made of glass, while Molly and Cavennaugh investigate the leak of Threshold to the media.

1-8, Revelations
Molly and Cavennaugh look into the disappearance of a Threshold field agent, and find some strange occurrences in the hometown of a Big Horn crewmember.

Disc Three:
1-9, Progeny
Three women from different walks of life are infected because they all went to the same sperm bank, where a Big Horn crewmember made a donation. There, I’ve spoiled this episode for you so you don’t need to watch it.

The rest of the episodes were never aired
1-10, The Crossing
A prisoner at Threshold attempts a breakout which leads to the conclusion that the prisoners must be moved. If you said to yourself, “Self, this sounds like a good time to do the old ‘attempt a breakout while transporting prisoners’ plot”, give yourself a Gold Star. Also, Lucas shows signs of being infected.

1-11, Outbreak
Lucas is infected after eating food harvested with the alien DNA (your first hint – he claims that Voyager was the best show, EVER). Which, by the way, was the premise of a bad Grant Morrison comic called Skrull Kill Krew. And Molly discovers something interesting about the Aliens. Catherine Bell debuted in this episode, with the intent of adding her to the cast.

1-12, Vigilante
A serial killer is on the loose, and he’s going after the infectees, tracking them by their heightened theta waves. Which probably wouldn’t bother the team that much, except that some of the victims weren’t actually infected. Oops.

Disc Four:
1-13, Alienville
Molly and Cavennaugh head to a town called Alienville where they’ve lost track of two Threshold agents. Turns out the whole town is infected. Yeah, who’d have thunk it? Also, one of the pregnant women from Progeny gives birth.

The DVD:
Video:
(Widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs)
Everything looks pretty sharp. For a show this recent though, there isn’t really anything that you’re not expecting.

Audio:
(English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Surround)
Does the job, I suppose. Parts of the pilot’s are decent enough to test your system, if that’s what you’re looking for.

Special Features:
Audio Commentary – Based on what you see on the packaging you’d think that there would be quite a few episodes with commentaries. Instead there’s audio commentary from David Goyer and the Braga on the pilot.

The Threshold Brain Trust – Essentially a four-part EPK (Electronic Press Kit) featuring the producers and actors saying how good the show is, and how scary it was (it was scary?). The Braga of course takes credit and says that he’s had a show like this in mind “for a while”.

Threshold Visual Effects – Ohhh, pretty effects.

Behind the Fractal – An exploration of the use of fractals and mathematics in the show. Which would be unique except that they did the same thing (but better) on another CBS Friday show, ‘Numb3rs’.

Deleted Scenes – See “Audio Commentary”. We only get scenes from the pilot.

Overall, it’s just slightly better than nothing.