The first episode of "Hostages" aired on CBS on Tuesday. It stars Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott. Not much happened in episode 1 that we didn't already know about from the trailer. The basic premise is a physician (Dr Ellen Sanders) is scheduled to operate on the President of the United States. The night before the surgery a group of baddies break into the Sanders house and hold the family hostage. If Dr. Ellen does not kill the President, they will kill her family (husband Brian, daughter Morgan and son Jake). This all unfolds in 15 episodes.
Other notes:
- The baddies are lead by FBI agent Duncan Carlisle (McDermott) who is plotting with the President's Chief of Staff (so there is a government conspiracy afoot).
- There are several other side stories: Jake (the son) is apparently entangled with a drug dealer who wants him to pay up or else; Morgan (the daughter) just did a home pregnancy test and it's positive; Brian (the husband) is cheating on Ellen.
- Duncan's wife is in a coma but we don't know why. He also has a daughter. Grandpops is watching her while Duncan is away. We suspect Duncan is being forced to do these deeds by someone higher up the food chain. He tells Ellen "sometimes you have to do a bad thing for a good reason".
- The other hostage takers include Kramer (Duncan's brother in law), Archer (ex-military) and Sandrine (the only woman in the group).
- Ellen purposefully gives the President a blood thinner so is forced to postpone the surgery... until next week. Cue suspenseful music.
Grade: 3 1/2 (out of 5 Monsters). A solid start. I'm not sure I like it enough to keep coming back for 14 more episodes but we'll see. Toni Collette is the main reason I tuned in since she's such as excellent actress.
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