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TOUCH |
Martin Bohm - Kiefer Sutherland Jake Bohm - David Mazouz Lucy Robbins - Maria Bello Calvin Norburg - Lukas Haas Amelia Robbins - Saxon Sharbino Trevor Wilcox - Greg Ellis 
OTHER TOUCH SEASONS Season 1 OTHER TALENTED TYPES Empathy Alphas Heroes 
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Event HorizonMartin and his gifted son Jake are on the run from a shadowy corporation. They find the mother of another such child, Amelia, and a series of clues from Jake lead them toward saving her. The second season of stories of interconnectedness picks up right where the first one ended, but introduces a number of elements that weren't previously present. Quite apart from the presence of Maria Bello as Lucy (a scratchy, but believable performance)there is the introduction of the people within the shadowy company that is Aster Corp, most specifically Lukas Haas as the disaffected genius whose work led to the abduction of Amelia. Seeing inside the belly of the beast gives the enemy a less faceless presence, but also reduces them to being just more flawed human beings. There is now a serial killer who is out to destroy those he believes speak with the voice of God, something that will inevitably lead him to Jake. How long his place in the background can be maintained is uncertain. The concentration on the search for Amelia streamlines this episode and gives it a new impetus and drive that was missing from the first season. Whether this approach will be continued remains to be seen. TopCloserMartin wants to get closer to Calvin, the defecting Aster Corp genius. To do that, he will have to get closer to the man now funding him, a man whose father has just been kidnapped. Jake spends time with Lucy and appears to be opening up, but is also leaving clues that might lead to Amelia. The slow thawing of Jake's condition is actually a pleasing part of the storyline, adding some humanity to the slow unravelling of the conspiracy theory. The serial killer is back, this time finding a connection with his victim that might just make it impossible for him to kill her and a librarian has to go on the run. These are side stories that will slowly weave themselves into the pattern, but are initially irritating and distracting. TopEnemy Of My EnemyMartin finally gets to meet Calvin Norburg, but learns nothing new about the location of Amelia. Instead, his investigations lead him to a woman in Pakistan about to be 'disappeared'. The interconnectedness of all things is back again, though mainly in the supporting story of Lucy and Jake finding the first victim of the serial killer and the woman who gave him his scar. This leads to their first knowledge that the man is out there. The story of the woman in Pakistan accused of spying and deeply involved in Aster Corp operations has all the weaknesses of the original season's stories, being virtually irrelevant and uninteresting, not to mention sketched in. The conspiracy at the centre of the show continues to coil and writhe, the identity of the librarian explained and Calvin's duplicitousness confirmed, but the focus has certainly helped the show immensely. TopPerfect StormMartin attempts to get information that Calvin needs from inside the company.Jake finds ways of connecting with friends and family as yet unknown to him and the killer closes in on Jake's whereabouts. It's nice to see Abraham back, especially as he is put in deadly danger in an extremely tense scene, the outcome of which is not predictable. The manner in which the killer comes across Abraham is completely unbelievable, but their confrontation is not. It is also lovely to see Jake connecting with the other children and his father, this fact showing the effect that the character has had on the audience in a quiet, understated way. If only things had advanced the story at all. TopEye To EyeJake and Amelia make plans to meet, both slipping away from their adult handlers. The plot here is very nicely handled and somewhat tense as Amelia and Jake come ever closer together, but it fails in the end to add up to much as there is no real outcome to the efforts. It does at least lead to a cracking cliffhanger. On the flipside, the supporting feature of the killer looking for absolution from a priest is dated and unoriginal and as predictable as can be. TopBrokenLucy has run over Calvin and tortures him for information about her daughter's whereabouts. He strikes a deal where she can have Amelia in exchange for Jake. The story here is a stripped down thriller plot that has Lucy and Calvin turning the tables on each other whilst Martin tries to catch up with what's happening. It's focused and uncomplicated and all the better for it. Maria Bello is terrific as the mother driven to terrible acts and there is no telling where her scene with Lukas Haas is going to lead. Unfortunately, it is teamed up with the subplot about the serial killer going out into the wilderness to look for God's advice and finding a way to atone for his sins. This is neither interesting nor does it give any depth to the killer's character. TopGhostsLucy joins Martin and Jake at the news agency in the middle of a raging storm, not knowing that the serial killer has tracked them down and plans to use the storm as cover for his next killing. Just how far the show has shifted from its original roots can be seen in this episode, which is nothing more than an exercise in sustained tension. There is no plot as such (serial killer inside building wants to kill boy and anyone else who gets in his way) and no time for any real character development (apart from introducing one just so that there is someone else to put in peril), just lots of people moving around dimly-lit corridors trying to do evil or prevent evil being done. Simple though the structure may be, once you get over the 'how the hell did he find them?' set up, the tension is maintained at a high level and slowly gets ratcheted up. Admittedly there's a 'oh for heaven's sake' HALLOWE'EN moment at the end, but up until that point this is exciting stuff. Jake and Amelia can now communicate telepathically, with the serial killer as well, which rather begs the question as to why she doesn't just give Jake the address, so they can go get her. TopReunionsLucy tells Jake where she is so that Martin and Lucy can go and get her. All they have to do is get inside a top security facility, steal the kidnapped girl, escape and disable the mercenaries' modes of transport. This is a simple rescue mission storyline that assumes the audience is also simple. Martin's method of getting inside strains credibility, but Lucy and Jake apparently just stroll in minutes later. The vehicles are left unsecured and don't have spare keys. The vitally important girl who has already tried to escape once is not kept under constant supervision... the quibbles go on and on. By the end of the escape any hope for believability is lost. On top of that, there is a random connection shoehorned into the plot to remind everyone of how it started out, and Calvin's touching reunion with his brother that goes all pear-shaped. And that's all before Martin then abandons Lucy and Amelia in a car that's already been shown to be dodgy in an insecure area. Really? But then there's a shock moment at the end that we just can't bring ourselves to believe in. TopClockworkA man sits on death row waiting for sentence to be carried out. He is important to Jake and so Martin tries to get his daughter to give the information that is needed to save him, but is that Jake's need? Man on death row, clock ticking down, desperate race against time to save him, family reconciliation ... yadayadayada ... just when you think that this episode has nothing to offer other than running through the tried and overtired death row storyline, it goes off at a tangent, has a resolution that you don't expect and comes up with a gizmo that moves the plot forward. This means that half of the episode is dull and boring and oh so familiar, but it really picks up when it moves into new territory. It's also nice to see Avram back. TopTwo Of A KindWhilst Martin tries to track down Guillermo the killer one last time, Jake and Amelia come together to follow a chunk of rock and a woman who might be another of the 36. There is much in this episode that really doesn't hang together if you look at it too carefully, but then the show never really was about being believable. The plot moves at a good pace and has lots of the apparently random links that were prevalent in the first season, but which have only appeared sporadically in this one. The serial killer story is resolved finally (thank goodness) and at least managed to go out in a slightly unexpected fashion. Calvin's seduction back into Astercorp was too easy to be convincing. TopAccusedMartin decides to go to the police now that he has Amelia to back up his story. Astercorp immediately responds by framing him for Lucy's murder. It seems that Astercorp are capable of carrying out miracles as well as all the other stuff that they have done. They can completely remodel a laboratory into a warehouse in a matter of days and plant evidence that immediately puts suspicion on Martin. They can then (albeit without knowing it) get him released on bail. All of this is very, very unlikely indeed. Better, though, is Avram and Jake closing in on the sleeping clinic and the final cliffhanging twist, though considering what happened when Avram was asked to look after the kids last time out, it is surprising that Martin asks him to do it again. It is also seriously ungrateful of Martin to kick off at the friend without whom he would doubtlessly be dead or living homeless out of a box by now. TopFight Or FlightMartin tracks down the sleep clinic where experiments are being carried out on 7 members of the 36, but is too late to save one of them. He needs his friend Greg to go undercover inside and help from within to save them. This is an incredibly focused episode, based as it mostly is within the sleep clinic and dealing with an almost real-time escape attempt. Considering that the security is being looked at, it really is very lax and the ease with which people sneak around what is supposed to be a secure facility is farcical, but it still manages to have a certain level of tension. Calvin Norburg finally learns the true purpose of Astercorp and there is a cliffhanger twist is eye-rolling in its 'oh no, not again' nature. TopLeviathanJake and Amelia have been kidnapped by Astercorp in one last desperate attempt to get the magical number sequence, an attempt that might kill the children. Can Martin locate them in time. There is a rush to tie up as many loose ends as possible in this season finale in case there is not third (which there won't be, it turns out) and that means that a lot of stuff happens and a lot of it makes no sense at all. Martin takes down a seasoned mercenary with ease, walks onto a ship that is supposed to be under super security and gets all the bad guys arrested with some very handy tape recordings. All of this is made possible by the bad guys being uncharacteristically stupid at every turn. The end of Calvin's story is a bit cruel, but then the rest of the resolutions are so fluffily happy that it at least supplies something of a harder edge. The opening for further seasons is left, but the show has never really performed and this second season proved to be even less successful in story terms than the patchy first, so it's hard to be surprised by the decision. Top |
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