Unlike its fellow rookie show, and competition “The Blacklist”, CBS’ “Hostages” is not a slam dunk. While there are some good things about the show that justify its right to continue airing, it does have a flaw that might irk some viewers. So here is the good and bad so far from “Hostages”:
The Good:
Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott do an excellent job portraying Dr. Ellen Sanders and FBI Agent Duncan Carlisle in the roles of hostage and captor respectively. The chess match they are having makes good television. Also, the relationship the captors have with the family is unique. You can tell that they genuinely don’t want to hurt the Sanders family. There are even members of Duncan’s team that seem interested in the lives of Sanders' children. However, on the other hand it also appears that they won’t hesitate to take drastic measures. Thirdly, it’s interesting to watch the mind games Duncan plays with Sanders and her family. For example, he has one of his team members, Maria Gonzales (Sandrine Holt) carry Ellen's husband Brian (Tate Donovan) to cheat on his wife and then come right back to his wife. All the while, Ellen is afraid Gonzales has taken her husband away to kill him. Finally, there’s a real overall plot here. Who wants to kill the president and why?
The Bad:
The major issue I have with “Hostages” is that the story is moving too slow. If this season is only supposed to last 15 episodes, then the story has to pick up the pace. As far as the major plot is concerned, after two episodes in a 15-episode season it would be nice to have more of an idea why someone wants to kill the president or why Duncan was chosen in the first place. Maybe I’m just impatient but nevertheless let’s see what the writers have in store.
"Hostages" airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.
RELATED ARTICLE: Hostages CBS: Wishlist for Inagural Season; The Chess Match Between Dr. Sanders and Agent Carlisle
