Genre: Drama | Fantasy

Air Date/Time: January 25 at 9/8c (Special Preview)

Network: Fox

Creator: Tim Kring

Director: Francis Lawrence

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, David Mazouz, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Danny Glover

Synopsis:

We are all interconnected. Our lives are invisibly tied to those whose destinies touch ours. This is the hopeful premise of the new drama TOUCH from creator and writer Tim Kring (Heroes, Crossing Jordan) and executive producers Peter Chernin (New Girl, Terra Nova) and Katherine Pope (New Girl, Terra Nova).  Blending science, spirituality and emotion, the series will follow seemingly unrelated people all over the world whose lives affect each other in ways seen and unseen, known and unknown.

At the story’s center is Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland), a widower and single father, haunted by an inability to connect to his emotionally challenged 11-year-old son, Jake (David Mazouz). Caring, intelligent and thoughtful, Martin has tried everything to reach his son. But Jake never speaks, shows little emotion and never allows himself to be touched by anyone, including Martin. Jake is obsessed with numbers – writing long strings of them in his ever-present notebooks – and with discarded cell phones. Social worker Clea Hopkins (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) believes that Jake’s needs are too serious for Martin to handle. She sees a man whose life has become dominated by a child he can no longer control. She believes that it’s time for the state to intervene. So Jake is placed in foster care, despite Martin’s desperate objections.

But everything changes after Martin meets Arthur Teller (Danny Glover), a professor and an expert on children who possess special gifts when it comes to numbers. Martin learns that Jake possesses an extraordinary gift – the ability to perceive the seemingly hidden patterns that connect every life on the planet. While Martin wants nothing more than to communicate directly with his son, Jake connects to his father through numbers, not words. Martin realizes that it’s his job to decipher these numbers and recognize their meaning. As he puts the pieces together, he will help people across the world connect as their lives intersect according to the patterns Jake has foreseen. Martin’s quest to connect with his son will shape humanity’s destiny.

So what is this show, exactly? Is it a mystery, with weekly puzzles as well as an overall mythology that is slowly, slowly being solved? Or is it closer to Alphas, where there are people with a special ability that is nearly possible? Or maybe Person of Interest, where there is a number almost magically generated every week but the story is mostly about learning about to whom and to what a specific person is connected? Or maybe Numbers, perfect for people like my Dad the math teacher, who can see the beauty in numbers? Or is it more of a family hour family drama, where the parent and child love and support each other and are trying their hearts out to communicate?

Yes.

When I first read about this series I was encouraged, seeing that there could be a bit of mysticism, otherworldly abilities, coincidences that go beyond the pale. But I’ll admit it; when I more recently read that in promoting the series, Kiefer Sutherland kept pushing about how much “heart” this series has, I was worried. I like edge. I don’t like too much on-screen sweetness (with Pushing Daisies a notable exception). I am somewhat relieved to report that this pilot teeters along the edge of the family hour cake without ever diving headlong into the buttercream frosting. The involvement of numbers and references to quantum entanglement and the Fibonacci Sequence adds a tangy bit o’ geekiness, and the fact that the boy can’t abide being touched – get it? – is also an element of defense against the goo.

Structurally the pilot has a number of separate stories going, to keep things moving along. There are enough reveals for the mystery hogs to be appeased, but not enough for the fine-tooth-comb gang; this is not a show for which you should be taking, keeping, and indexing notes. You know who you are. It’s a little unclear what structure the show will take in future episodes, but as I am not a member of their writer’s room, I don’t need to have an answer for that; I will simply trust that they do. I will give them a chance to show me that they have a plan, that they realize a series is more than one episode. So yes, I will watch the next episode of this series. If it’s as good as the first episode, I’ll watch the next, and the next. It was a beautiful pilot. I didn’t feel overly manipulated, as I often do in these near-tear-jerker shows. That feat alone garners them another viewing.

You have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy this; you have to let go of your cynicism, even if it’s just for that hour. Just try it. Grab some cocoa and a pillow, and relax and enjoy this pretty show, then watch the second hour when the show returns in March; we’ll see where it goes, and talk about it then.

I give Touch: Season 1, Episode 1 “Pilot,” Four Out of Five Stars.