In order to attract a large audience, some TV shows tend to revolve around a crime and a frantic chase to rescue a kidnapped victim or capture a runaway prison inmate. Guns, violence, police investigators, detectives, and car chases are recurring motifs most audience members expect to appear. Over time, these aspects, which pulled in millions of watchers nationwide, became hackneyed and overused. Now, new and upcoming shows that fall into the crime and law category must prove to critics and viewers that they have more of a storyline. One television series that does just that is Believe. Premiered on March 10 on NBC, Believe warms the heart of viewers with its moral message to have hope while still providing enough action to satisfy others.
Directed by 2014 Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuaron, the series revolves around an orphaned young girl named Bo Adams (Johnny Sequoyah) who possesses telekinetic, psychic, and other supernatural powers that she cannot control. Throughout her whole life, she has been pursued by a group of people headed by Roman Skouras (Kyle MacLachlan). Knowing that if he harnesses Bo’s abilities he will gain a lot of power, Skouras will stop at nothing to have her in his grasp. The ‘good guys’ of the show consist of a small team of Skouras’ former colleagues headed by Milton Winter (Delroy Lindo). He understands that Bo is only a little child and strives to protect Bo from the dangers of Skouras at any cost. After Skouras kills Bo’s foster parents, Winter realizes Bo needs to be protected by an outsider. Surprisingly, he enlists the help of an imprisoned death row inmate, William Tate (Jake McLaughlin) whom he frees from jail in exchange for his assistance. Hardened by many years in prison, Tate initially refuses to take care of Bo, claiming he hates children; however, after seeing her for the first time, he feels a connection to her and reluctantly agrees. This oddly paired couple then embarks on a journey consisting of hidden identities and constant traveling in order to escape Skouras’ cronies and the FBI.
Amidst the action and runaway scenes, it is hard not to take note of the sphere of innocence that Bo is encased in throughout the show. As she and Tate travel from city to city, Bo uses her supernatural abilities to give people she meets along the way hope that grim circumstances will get better. In the pilot episode, when Bo and Tate seek refuge in a doctor’s home to escape Skouras’ hired assassin, she takes note of the doctor’s critically ill father in bed. Having a heightened awareness of people’s emotions, Bo is able to figure out that the doctor is afraid that his dying father is disappointed in him for failing to cure his illness. She also senses that the doctor feels completely helpless and sees himself as a failure. Bo persistently tells him that his father is extremely proud of him and that in the near future a woman named ‘Senga’ will see him as a hero. When the doctor is called into the hospital to treat a recently admitted patient, Bo’s last words to him is to ‘believe’. Later that night, the doctor realizes the patient, Agnes, is Senga when he sees the backward reflection of her get well balloons in a mirror. The next day, Bo gives away money to a waitress to pay for her cancer-ridden son’s bone marrow transplant. Although Bo and Tate are constantly in danger, Bo always finds time to lighten people’s day and spread her message nationwide. As Bo spreads her ideals on screen, her influence is not limited to just the characters in the show. Sequoyah does an excellent job of touching the audience’s hearts by using her own youth and innocence—she is only ten years old—to make Bo’s message more profound. Having hope is something all people should embrace, especially since current world catastrophes threaten any potential for it.
Another great aspect of the show is Bo and Tate’s chemistry as they begin to get accustomed to each other during their journey. When Tate is first introduced, he is characterized as a violent and cold hearted man who could not care less about a little girl in need of a protector. Briefly, the audience sees a chink in Tate’s emotionless armor when he sets his eyes upon Bo for the first time, but just as quickly as it happened, Tate seals up his walls again. Bo not only tries to instill faith into everyone she meets, she also directs her efforts into making Tate more humane. Despite Tate’s adamant refusal to soften up to Bo, once Tate and Bo commence their getaway, it marks the start of his gradual change of heart. As they flee from city to city, the two provide comedic relief from otherwise dangerous situations with their highly amusing bickering. By including Tate and Bo’s shaky yet adorable relationship, Believe once again delivers another message to its audience proving that no matter how cruel and unwelcoming a person is, he or she always has a softer side hidden within.
Even the best of shows have their faults. Although Believe delivers several hits, there are some misses, too. One facet of the show that could be altered is the fact that Bo has already discovered the majority of her powers by the time the viewers are introduced to her. If she learned of her abilities during the show, it would greatly add to the dynamics of her character. Also, one cannot ignore how cliche the fight to gain possession of Bo is. The ‘good vs evil’ battle between Winter and Skouras is the basis of most television shows ranging from all different genres. The lack of originality is as little as Tate and Bo’s efforts to run away from Skouras and his cronies. As important as protecting Bo is, Tate does not seem to get the memo when he carelessly poses for a picture with a woman he meets at a casino. The picture spreads like wildfire and not only is Tate’s cover blown, it exposes Bo to the FBI and the rest of the country via AMBER Alerts. By luck the duo manages to escape Skouras but with the last minute help of Winter. Nonetheless, hopefully as the TV series progresses more, these issues will be resolved.
Having a premise that suggests a lot of fighting and action, the writers of Believe had to smoothly weave in themes and messages without angering viewers because of the lack of action. Despite this difficult task, the writers successfully juxtapose Bo’s tear-jerking and emotional ‘believe’ scenes and epic and tense escape episodes. While viewers are provided with relief from the rapidness of Bo and Tate’s chases when Bo is changing strangers’ lives, there are always foreboding feelings of unsettlement for the two’s next threat. With that said, Believe is an innovative compromise between storyline and action.
Join in on Bo and Tate’s heartwarming and emotional journey by watching Believe on Sunday nights on NBC at 9 pm.
