Aftermath Episode 1 Review: The End Of Days Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be (Season Premiere)

"Aftermath" aired this week on the SyFy channel. It follows a Washington state family (the Copelands) as they deal with some very strange "end of days" shenanigans. There's demon possessions, meteorites and hurricanes. There's fish, snakes and car parts raining from the sky. There's also a mysterious illness called "the fever" that makes people go crazy and kill each other. Those who are stricken are known as "feverheads" (or skin walkers). They have a taste for human flesh. The only symptom of their malady (other eating people) is blood in the mouth. Luckily for us the father (Joshua) is a religion professor so has an inside scoop on such things.

This all sounds like a good premise for a show but so far I'm NOT hooked. The characters dont have any depth. Even though the parents (Anne Heche and James Tupper) are an IRL couple, I dont see much chemistry between them. Likewise, Karen acts all hysterical when daughter Brianna is whisked away by a flying demon... but I just dont feel it. Yes, I know she's an ex Air Force pilot and is tough...but still not buying it.

The Copelands dont have much of a sense of urgency. A Category 5 hurricane is heading towards them. They meander into the house. No need to hide in the basement. They instead camp out in the living room in front of some big GLASS windows. Smart move people!

After Brianna's abduction, everyone loads into their RV to search for her. Along the way they encounter a gas station attendant who cleans their windshield with a severed head. Too funny. More of this type of over the top action please!

Next they travel to a quarantine zone in Yakima and hope that Brianna (if she's still alive) has done the same. That turns out to be not such a hot idea when meteorites ran down and wipe out most of the people. Luckily Brianna has escaped her demon (he was impaled on a tree branch) and headed for the same locale. She hides under a bus during the flaming meteorite shower and manages to live. So far she seems like the smartest person in the Copeland clan.

Grade: 2 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). "Aftermath" has potential but so far I'm not seeing it. Sure it's low budget but if the characters are believable and the story is compelling, viewers are willing to overlook everything else. See "Z Nation" and "Sharknado" as examples of low budget success stories.

I'm not sure what "Aftermath" is trying to be? Is a drama or a comedy or something else? The acting is too poor to be a drama. The show is too dry to be a comedy. It's stuck in the "meh" middle. Hopefully they'll decide what they are and act accordingly. Right now there's nothing intriguing enough about "Aftermath" to keep me coming back for more.