A man awakes on an island, naked and puzzled. He is colour blind, and he has no idea who he is, yet he does know every other fact in the world. Seeking answers, he dives into the ocean and starts swimming, to be picked up by a fishing trawler and taken to land. There he aids the police with an abduction case when he realizes the taken girl may somehow be connected to him.

Now, I've never seen The Pretender, but I know enough about it to be aware that this series has its similarities in the premise of a man who knows everything. However, I believe there's a lot of potential here, and it has a suitably innovative take on the familiar theme. Firstly, it has Dominic Purcell, who makes a splendid lead and someone you'd happily watch for weeks on end as he attempts to uncover the truth about who he is. His charisma is obvious from the start, and he isn't a depressing person as so many heroes with 'issues' are these days. He's upbeat, curious, and extremely intelligent.

It also has a very neat little plot, which sets up the premise of the series in a suitably effective and mysterious way, convincingly brings in the rest of the regular cast, and throws up enough questions that people will continue to keep watching. My only concern is that when someone shouts his name at the end of the episode, things may be moving too fast. In fact, this is the root of my major worry about the show: that the writers have no better idea than anyone else just who John Doe is. That's really the only thing that can let the series down, but if things are planned out well enough, it should make for an interesting ride.

The story of this episode is surprisingly complex, as John helps the police to find the missing girl. The answer to what happened is effective and interesting, and doesn't find its way into sickliness as it could so easily have done. Instead what we have is a gritty and realistic approach that works in the show's favour. With the setting up done, this seems like a really fascinating series to watch, with a touch of humour and a lot of intrigue. As long as it doesn't become a police procedural every week – it would be good to see John helping others as a PI – it should be well worth a look. Still a shame that so many of the stars have been recast since the original pilot though; I quite liked seeing Meat Loaf on the TV…

****

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