A group of genetically-engineered children attempt to escape from a hi-tech complex and while a few are successful, only one concerns us: Max. Now making a life for herself in the city after an electronic pulse that put everyone back to low-tech lifestyles, she searches for her brethren and meets a cyber-hacker who may be able to assist her.

A two-hour pilots go, this is one of the best. But what would you expect from James Cameron? It plays like a movie, and to all intents and purposes it is. There’s strong characterization, intrigue, plenty of questions. The only thing it lacks is closure, but that’s understandable with a series to follow. Jessica Alba is a real find as Max, combining an unusual beauty with a sharp dry wit with an amazing physicality that makes her move incredibly gracefully. Although there are too many regulars to get to know in such a short time, and some of the more ethnic members have trouble making themselves understood to my untrained ear, it’s a fine collection of characters with Original Cindy standing out most among them, a sassy young woman who is Max’s closest friend.

Many pilots get burdened with setting things up, but here the characters are introduced fairly painlessly. Logan Cale, Max’s ‘employer’ and potential love interest is an interesting and, eventually, tragic character and although we don’t find out much about Max’s pursuer, Lydecker, he fits the traditional implacable hunter role to a tee. As an introduction to the world of the near-future, it’s superb, with a more realistic version of life in a few years time being something that sci-fi has needed for a long time. There’s a lot of potential here. Let’s hope it isn’t wasted.

****

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