Genre: Drama | Fantasy

Air Date/Time: March 22 at 9/8c

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.

I was a little concerned, before watching the first episode, about all of the talk I was hearing from star Kiefer Sutherland and show creator Tim Kring about the series being “heartwarming.” Heartwarming is not a characteristic I look for in a TV series. I much prefer “smart” to “heartwarming.” There was a fair amount of “heartwarming” in that first episode, but the payoff at the end was really very nice. All of the pieces fell neatly into place in a very satisfying manner. Because everything fit so snugly, it felt smart and I was encouraged. Plus, the heartwarming part wasn’t smarmy, it felt closer to miraculous than to manipulative.

On to the new episode, two months later. They’ve changed up the beginning a little bit, to reflect the fact that Jake now counts on Martin to understand him and do what needs to be done. Remember his “and in all that time, I’ve never said a single word” narration that Jake did at the beginning, and which was on almost every commercial for the show? It’s now followed by “But that’s okay. I have someone who hears me now.”

This episode takes place the morning after the end of the first episode. As you may recall, Jake was back up the radio tower, and he handed his dad another number? Well in spite of what she saw, social worker Clea is still mostly a doubter, and therefore causes some trouble for Martin and Jake. This is frustrating for the viewer as well as for Martin, but it’s a familiar frustration; underestimation of the person with extraordinary abilities is a common theme in sci-fi, fantasy, and detective shows.

Kiefer Sutherland is once again believable as a dad who would do anything for his son, especially since the conclusion of the pilot episode convinced him that his son, thought to be autistic, actually is communicating with him. He is exceedingly earnest but I forgive the character for being so, given his past years of frustration. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is perhaps the best looking social worker ever, in the most lovely care center ever, and can’t help it if the lines she’s been given are a bit too wooden. It will be interesting to see if they allow both Martin and Clea’s characters to develop in their support of Jake; if not, the show will get very old very fast.

In this second episode, we see the pattern develop in a similar manner to the way it was done in the pilot; several separate stories which we know will somehow wind up together. I can see that the fun could be in trying to figure out exactly how that’s going to happen, but the slightly disappointing side of that is the very fact that you know it’s going to happen. We couldn’t know for sure in the pilot, but now we do. It’s the whole point of the show. I understand and appreciate the joy of puzzle pieces fitting together. But… The seemingly unrelated other stories and characters this week are okay, if somewhat predictable. I must say, the production values are great, it’s a very beautiful show to watch.

So here’s what it all comes down to for me. This is a great family show. That doesn’t automatically mean it gets crossed off my list, but if it doesn’t have an edge, it needs to be smart in order to hold my interest. The hook of the puzzle pieces almost gets me there, but not quite. If you enjoy shows that are heartwarming, this show is for you. If you like it to have a little bit of a hook, this might be for you. If you like edge, smart and snappy dialogue, a very intricate plot, or something that has a very clear sci-fi or fantasy bent to it, I don’t think this show will satisfy. It was a little too slow, a little too quiet, and the payoff, while really good, was not quite enough for me this week. I will, however, give it another episode and see how it goes.

I give Touch: Season 1, Episode 2 “1+1=3” Three Out of Five Stars.