Television Review: Threshold
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this gloomy science fiction series
about alien visitation can be very scary and violent (and the
premise itself may be unsettling for some). Viewers see dead
bodies surrounded by pools of blood, a man being shot several
times in the chest, a person being pursued by an ax-wielding
former friend, a bloody severed hand, and so on. Characters
have spooky dreams about being chased by something unknown but
ominous. In one episode, a character is seen drinking and being
surrounded by scantily clad strippers. Several characters use
rough language.
Families can talk about aliens. Do you believe in other
intelligent life forms? Do you think that Earth has already
been visited by aliens? If aliens are out there, do you think
it's more likely that they'd be hostile or friendly? Should the
government be trying to contact other intelligent life forms?
Could the show's alien-invasion storyline be a metaphor for
real current events? If so, what?
In dark sci-fi series THRESHOLD, a mysterious UFO appears to the crew of a U.S. Navy ship, setting off a string of violent incidents. Dr. Molly Caffrey (Carla Gugino) is the author of the contingency plan that the government puts into effect when confronted with the possibility of alien contact and she, along with her ragtag team of experts, must investigate the encounter and its subsequent effects. Those effects are spreading: One survivor of the Navy-ship encounter ends up with superhuman strength and a really bad attitude, Caffrey and two of her teammates who watched a videotape of the UFO begin to have identical scary dreams, and an examination of the Navy ship corpses shows a strange mutation in their blood. Threshold's cast includes sci-fi veteran Brent Spiner as Nigel Fenway, the restless and bitter microbiologist called in by the government to be part of Caffrey's Red Team. Also on the team is Arthur Ramsey (Peter Dinklage), a brilliant linguist and mathematician who likes women and booze. J.T. Baylock (Charles S. Dutton) is the gruff deputy national security advisor who directs Caffrey's movements.
Despite a great group of actors and decent writing, Threshold doesn't move beyond average sci-fi fare. That doesn't mean it's not entertaining, especially for fans of the genre, but viewers looking for something really special should go elsewhere.
The shadow-lit scenes, ominous music and split-second negative-image shots all contribute to the show's generally tense and forbidding tone. Frequent scenes showing blood and violence, including people being shot and chased with an ax, as well as people being pursued or scared, make this a show that younger kids and sensitive folks of all ages should probably avoid.
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