Containment Episode 1 Review: Please Cover Your Mouth When Coughing Up Blood (Series Premiere)

After a long wait, "Containment" finally premiered on CW this week. The first scene is subtitled as "13 Days Earlier". National Guard troops psych themselves up before a bloody conflict with civilians. People are rioting, bleeding, screaming, dying-- you name it.

Back on Day One an infected physician describes a mysterious man. Dr Sanders is gone within several hours (and it's definitely not a pretty death). There's lots of bleeding from all orifices. Is this an act of bioterrorism? It appears to be. Patient Zero just arrived from the Middle East. He has a vial in his possession. There's lots of medicalspeak but from what I can understood it's a variation of avian influenza and has been engineering to pass quickly between humans. The virus is quickly transmitted and 100% fatal". Well, that can't be good.

Elsewhere in Atlanta, a couple (Alex and Jana) are having relationship issues. Officer Carnahan is called into a meeting by the Department of Health. Other bigwigs are there including representatives from the CDC, GEMA, EIS, Health and Human Services, etc. Dr Sabine Lommers arrives. She is a no nonsense kinda gal.

A pregnant woman (Teresa) and her mother work at a market. A group of school children visit a hospital. Katie is their teacher. Since the kids are quarantined, she is not able to pick up her son (Quentin). The police officer that brought in Patient Zero (Jake) is also stuck there. And he's none too happy.

Dr Lommers declares a state of emergency and instates a "cordon sanitaire" in order to quarantine the areas of town where the infected are. This means Teresa and her mom are inside. Her boyfriend Xander is outside. Jana is inside and Alex is outside. Side Note: "Containment" is based on the Belgian TV series "Cordon". This was also the original title of the CW version.

Dr Savine tells the public the situation will be over before we know it-- 48 hours tops. Then we're reminded what happened 13 days later. Looks like it didnt quite work as she had planned.

Grade: 3 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). I have been eagerly anticipating "Containment's" premiere for some time. I'm a sucker for a good pandemic story. "Containment" reminds me a little of "Colony" in that the main characters are trapped together (or are trying to get to their trapped loved ones). In "Colony's" case aliens are to blame. In "Containment's" it's the government in an effort to stop the spread of a deadly virus.

The first time I watched the pilot I was kinda bored. I enjoyed it much more the second time around. There are some great scenes (and copious amounts of blood) but also a LOTTA talking. The actors as doing a good job but I'm still not sure if the show is a keeper yet. I'll need to see more about the relationships before I'm sold. Right now I'm not feeling it for anyone. If that doesnt happen, I vote they bring some of the dead back as walkers and send them off in search of Rick Grimes. They are in Atlanta after all. I'd really like to see a direct prequel to "The Walking Dead" (that shows the characters right before the apocalypse).