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REVELATIONS |
Richard Massey - Bill Pullman Sister Josepha - Natascha McElhone Isaiah Haden - Michael Massee 
OTHER DEVILISH DRAMAS American Gothic Point Pleasant Apparitions The Stand Millennium 
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Episode 1A shadow of Christ appears on a mountainside on a cloudless day. An infant child is the only survivor of a ferry disaster in the Aegean Sea. Signs of end of the end of the world, as prophesied in the Bible, are appearing around the world. That's what Sister Josepha thinks, anyway. Dr Massey is more sceptical, so when the nun comes to him with the story of a child in a coma speaking in tongues and drawing maps that lead to him, he dismisses her outright. After a visit to the Satanist that killed his daughter, though, he is moved to see the child for himself to find out if it is the spirit of his dead daughter. The first episode of Revelations is utterly compelling. The ground is being laid for the rest of the plot, but it is already so good that you can't wait for those future episodes. It's all in the writing of David Seltzer (also responsible for THE OMEN), which puts in as much real world stuff as biblical stuff to ensure that it feels real right from the off. That allows Bill Pullman to give one of his best performances as the bereaved, driven physicist faced with a scenario he cannot believe and does not want to face. His character is instantly believable and grounds the episode against the supernatural content. Natascha MacElhone has a tougher sell with the radical nun who believes that the End of Days is fast arriving, starting out as a calm and collected believer, but ending up as a ranting god-botherer. That's the fault of one scene's scripting and hopefully will be put right in future episodes. TopEpisode 2Now that the life of the comatose child is secured, Richard Massey is finding that his role in unfolding events is becoming more clear and more dangerous. The child from the ferry is thought to be the Christ child reborn for the final battle between Good and evil. Sister Josepha wishes to find him and protect him and through him find a way to avert the end of the world in Armageddon. He still doesn't believe it, but his dreams seem determined to drive him along this path. Meanwhile, the satanist leader and equally creepy lawyer seem to have the rest of his family under close surveillance. Less apocalyptic than the opening episode, the story is developing nicely with a number of avenues to follow, but has stepped onto a lower key. The creep factor has been upped by the surveillance of Massey's family and the sudden appearance of a pig's head. The more supernatural moments (supermodels with eyes that shine in the dark) are less convincing and therefore less effective. The speed with which Massey accepts the search for the child (one bad dream) is also hard to take, but the incidental pleasures outweigh these concerns considerably. Bill Pullman continues to be eminently watchable and Natascha McElhone's Sister Josepha avoids any more mad rantings. In fact, her character is deepened by an exchange with Massey on the plane to Greece. (There is also a deleted scene on the DVD set at a book signing that would have helped her character as well.) Suffice to say that she is more engaging and interesting, whilst remaining her own person. TopEpisode 3Sister Josepha is doubting whether the so-called miracle child is the true or a false Christ. Her search with Dr Massey takes them to a remote hospital playing host to a girl claiming to have had a virgin birth. Turned away from the Vatican, she was attacked and her child taken onto the ferry that later sank. The Vatican authorities of course deny any involvement. Shortly afterwards the scientist and the nun are themselves attacked. Back in the US, Hawk (Massey's dead daughter's half brother) is contacted by a mystery girl on the internet and persuaded to slip away from his bodyguard. She immediately hands him over to the Satanist cult. In prison, the Satanist cult leader Isaiah Haden matches his mind to the comatose girl's in order to find clues as to her whereabouts. The third episode takes the story in two directions. Massey and sister Josepha's story is almost straight thriller writing and rather disappointing. The satanist leader regrowing his finger takes away any question over the supernatural nature of the tale. It is also difficult to imagine that Hawk would fall so easily into the trap set for him by the satanists. One message on the internet and he's abandoning safety when he knows there's a threat to his safety. It is his plight that now holds the main interest for future episodes. TopEpisode 4Hawk's fate is to take the place of his half sister as the blood sacrifice at the birth of the antichrist. A woman in a hospital in Canada has a story of being raped by a beast and now carries one inside her. The location of the comatose patient has been learned by the saranist group. The secret to finding Hawk and forestalling the apocalypse may lie in the writings of a man who died in the Holy Land. A new star has risen, but not in the east. Things have gotten a little muddled in the storytelling. Is the woman in hospital carrying the antichrist or just a demon? What's the relevance? The name Bugenhagen has a touch of familiarity for fans of Seltzer's The Omen but looks like being another diversion. The story of Hawk's captivity is the most interesting strand at present, but even that is annoyingly like padding. In prison, the Satanist cult leader Isaiah Haden matches his mind to the comatose girl's in order to find clues as to her whereabouts. It is to be hoped that these things will become clearer and be more neatly wrapped up than this episode suggests. TopEpisode 5Isaiah Haden stages a bloody coup at the prison and manages to slip away in the chaos. Hawk's grooming as the Antichrist's sacrifice continues. The tomb of Bugenhagen reveals a number of treasures and a deadly trap. The compound of the Sisters of Mercy is stormed, but not before the comatose girl manages to supply one last message, a vital clue and perhaps the final proof that Massey needs to really start believing in what is happening. The forces of Satan, though, are closing in on the location of the miracle child. The pace is finally ramping up with the breakout from the prison and the vault of Bugenhagen supply the set up for the final face up to come in the final episode. Having come this far there is no way we could not see the finale. It is to be hoped that these things will become clearer and be more neatly wrapped up than this episode suggests. TopEpisode 6The puzzles left by Bugenhagen are finally revealed, giving Massey and Sister Josepha the time and place of the birth of the Antichrist. On the shores of the Sea of Galilee, a battle will be fought for the future of humanity and the life of one boy. There are problems with the story as there have been in previous episodes with strands being left, forgotten or just plain ignored, but the tension in this last episode is undeniable. As Massey and the nun wait for the astral projection that will show the way, it is almost unbearable. It has been worth the journey to this point for these few minutes alone. Few shows would have the nerve to just sit and wait. The final outcome, though is fudged. The eye on a continuing series is all too clear as too much of the story is left untied. Even the fate of the satanist leader has to be left uncertain despite the ease with which a new one could be written in. Unfortunately, this is mini-series stuff and it's hard to see how a full series could be successful. Top |
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