I must have had this show confused with another one because for some reason I thought I had a vague memory of it. Turns out it was my first time watching it. Justin Cronin is the author of the best-selling novel The Passage both of which were unknown to me until Liz Heldens (Will Trent) made it into a show. It’s a tight 10-episode series that was canceled before its time but can live on as is. It stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Saniyya Sidney (King Richard, Hidden Figures) as the leads with Henry Ian Cusick (MacGyver, The 100), Caroline Chikezie, (The Shannara Chronicles, Aeon Flux, Eragon) Jamie McShane (Wednesday, The Lincoln Lawyer), Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Shut Eye, Superman & Lois), McKinley Belcher III (Ozark, The Good Lord Bird), and Brianne Howey (Ginny & Georgia) rounding out the cast.

Premise: Premise: The Passage focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting on death row inmates with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all diseases, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race. When, in the hopes of a breakthrough in their research, an orphan young girl, Amy Bellafonte, is chosen to be a test subject, Federal Agent Brad Wolgast is tasked with bringing her to Project Noah.

Review: This series can be a little difficult to describe because it starts off as a thriller but slowly bleeds into a few other genres. Set in what I would qualify as a precursor to a post-apocalyptic world – since we get to witness that descent during the season – the show is a solid sci-fi thriller with horror undertones.

If like me you didn’t know anything about the plot, at different points of time you might think this show to be something completely different than what it turns out to be. There are mini-arcs in terms of tone and genre in those ten episodes. They more or less firmly stay in one genre before turning into another while keeping some aspect of the previous genre. At first, it’s more of an action-adventure drama about a man on the run protecting a little girl from the government that’s trying to experiment on her. In this case, there’s a moral dilemma that adds complexity to the plot but it’s still a tried and true premise nothing too original. Yet, there are a lot of emotions, heart-pounding action, and dramatic moments – carried out perfectly by the leads who have amazing chemistry, the connexion between them was fast but felt very genuine.

The sci-fi elements were creeping on the edge but then kind of came on full force when it became clearer what the experimented on death row inmates had become. What first looked like a Walking Dead situation became something a bit more dangerous. A global outbreak is at play but there’s still hope. Again not the most original idea but when the very “threats,” the death row inmates, become more compelling and complex, the series subverts expectations by not having them be one singular threat to the world. It’s also when the horror aspects of the show start to take up space and shift the tone of the show again, just a bit before the beginning of the end for the world.

All of these mixing of genres and shifting of tone happen in the midst of quite a compelling story about found family, the ethics of research and experimentation, human trials, and survival. Most of the characters end up becoming more fleshed out than you’d expect, some switching from people you hate to ones you understand. There’s an emotional rollercoaster in this show that is fun to ride, the story is engrossing, and the show turns out to be quite brilliant.

Brad and Amy are perfectly cast, Gosselaar has both the nice dad and former military vibes down pat, and Sidney is both the little girl that needs to be saved without being a total damsel in distress, her character is a kid and yet she’s also the character who’s smart enough to do whatever she can to help. The show might not have worked as well without them. Their performances are stellar, with a lot of depth and authenticity. Their bond is heartwarming.

I thoroughly enjoyed this show, it had compelling storylines, intriguing characters, and solid visual effects, and made me buy the trilogy of books Justin Cronin wrote.

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