A highly serialized hostage drama (not to be confused with CBS’ “Hostages,” which starred Dylan McDermott rather than Dermot Mulrooney) “Crisis” comes to us from screenwriter Rand Ravich (“Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh,” “The Maker,” “The Astronaut’s Wife,” “Life”).
Co-starring “X-Files” icon Gillian Anderson and Tasmanian former model Rachel Taylor (“Charlie’s Angels,” “666 Park Avenue”) it’s about what happens when the president’s son and his classmates are kidnapped.
Reviews are mixed:
... while the NBC show isn't quite as humorless and dour as the CBS show, the new drama isn't quite willing to own just how ridiculous certain aspects of its premise are. … The larger problem is that "Crisis" failed to do something important, despite the presence of some good actors and the show's ability to manufacture tension. After I'd seen two hours of "Crisis," did I want to see what happened next to any of these characters? Not particularly. …
... …
… The pilot is terrific... This action thriller also has the kind of elements — the White House, the C.I.A., the F.B.I., billionaire C.E.O.s, diplomats and, of course, teenage angst — that could make it a new “24.” But a series centered on a busload of kidnapped students and their fate, dragged out week after week, could easily try viewers’ patience. …
... it will be the character reveals and plot twists that will make or break "Crisis." If Ravich can keep stay steady on the switchback course he's created, NBC may have another hit on its hands.
Tailor-made for the viewer who found CBS’s cockamamie “Hostages” far too believable, NBC’s ridiculously conceived new drama “Crisis” (premiering Sunday) is about the kidnapping of a busload of very important teenagers who attend an elite private school in Washington. One of them is the president’s son, so it’s a crisis, all right. ...
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... There's certainly a crisis in prime time for broadcast network dramas, but "Crisis" is emblematic of the problem not a solution. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... Do cliches abound? Do they ever. But "Crisis" is moderately entertaining … In spite of its shaky construction, "Crisis" gets our attention, at least in the first two episodes. The action is so rapid-fire, you probably won't notice the fragility of the overly complicated premise. If we remain on the edge of our seats as "Crisis" continues, the problems will diminish. If not, the entire contraption may very well fall apart.
... With its frantic pacing, ¬vicious masterminds and ¬valiant law enforcement agents, “Crisis” might remind you of Fox’s “24.” Not the best seasons of “24,” but still. …
... Yes, there are contrivances galore, including a rookie Secret Service agent (Lance Gross) called into heroic action on his first day and a milquetoast-dad chaperone (Dermot Mulroney) who steps up in unexpected ways. The first chapters are compelling enough, but after Hostages, it's hard not to be skeptical when we've just seen how quickly this sort of heightened situation can lapse into overheated nonsense. …
... feels very much like something we've either already seen or will see in the next Die Hard … Nothing in Crisis reinvents the genre — and some of it is a bit too familiar, from the overprivileged bully teen to the criminals' mystical ability to hack into computers and cameras at will. But the main characters are well-drawn and well-played, particularly by Mulroney, Taylor, Gross and (as you'd expect) Anderson, and the structure already seems reliably sturdy.
... For now, it’s an intriguing enough premise to warrant continued attention. …
10 p.m. Sunday. NBC.
