David Hiltbrand

Director John Power establishes good pacing, as the mounting suspense alternates with scenes of banal normalcy and campy humor. The action is spread around on a solid supporting cast that includes Joanna Cassidy, E.G. Marshall, Allyce Beasley, John Ashton, Cliff DeYoung, Robert Carradine and Traci Lords...The thriller is like an attenuated, more pastoral version of the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But once it gets its hooks in you, you’ll be back for the conclusion the following night.

For a scary movie, this is incredibly banal. In fact, the events surrounding fateful Flight 29 are a crashing bore.

Entertaining. But is it worth eight hours of your attention? Not unless you’re laid up with a bad flu bug you just can’t seem to shake.

If the musical element seems this strained in the pilot, when the vastly talented Randy Newman is the composer of all of the songs, one dreads to think how bad it will be after the show has settled in for a few weeks and is struggling for viable melodies.

Strange, off-the-wall, and even slightly mad.

Both Harry's life and his work are messy and complicated. The series lets both aspects breathe, without pushing for neat resolutions.

No question, this is a high-quality production with a fine cast that includes Marin Ireland, Brian Cox, Thomas Sadoski, Michael Nouri, and Penn Badgley. But it's also terribly stagey and saddled with a pretentious voice-over by Victor Garber.

The problem is that Allegiance seems to have painted itself into a corner with its overwrought premise. It dictates that at least once an episode.

This series is notably dependent on its writing, specifically the crafting of its mystery plots. Because of that, Backstrom will probably turn out to be variably enjoyable from week to week. But at least it has the potential to be excellent.

The script sometimes ties itself in knots trying to explain all the theoretical physics and horology that drive the plot, but in the early going, it hangs together pretty well.