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TV Review: THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH: Season 1, Episodes 1-2 [Showtime, SXSW 2022]

Chiwetel Ejiofor The Man Who Fell To Earth

The Man Who Fell To Earth Season 1 Episodes 1-2 Review

The Man Who Fell To Earth: Season 1, Episodes 1-2 TV Show Review. The first two episodes of Showtime‘s upcoming series were featured at the 29th Annual South by Southwest Film Festival and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the star of the program, seemingly has a terrific new role at his helm. Cast alongside the always reliable Ejiofor is the fantastic Naomie Harris. These two performers offer enough on-screen charisma to keep viewers intrigued enough to keep watching the show whether you like science fiction or you don’t. Credit director Alex Kurtzman for offering many fresh scenarios alongside the obviously familiar elements the episodes showcase.

Our first episode titled “Hallo, Spaceboy” begins with a well dressed businessman (Ejiofor) speaking in front of a huge crowd and the show then flashes back to when he first “fell” to Earth. Set in New Mexico, our alien played by Ejiofor reminded me a lot of the role Jeff Bridges played in John Carpenter’s 1984 masterpiece Starman. I have, sadly, never seen the original 1976 The Man Who Fell to Earth but related a lot of what happened on the first two episodes of the new series to the scenes between Bridges and Karen Allen in Starman. This Showtime series seemed to have that initial vibe in many of the scenes in the opening stages of the program. You know the vibe. Ejiofor’s alien is wise and observant to a fault while the lead female in the new show is more focused and, for obvious reasons, quite literally, down-to-earth.

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A 1980’s teen star from The Goonies appears briefly in the new Showtime series. It’s none other than the always brilliant Martha Plimpton who plays a female cop from who the unnamed, always thirsty for water, alien played by Ejiofor steals his name (which is Faraday). Since the alien with a human form has somehow found himself in jail, he reaches out (through a phone call) to scientist Justin Falls (Harris) who is drifting through life with realistic problems of her own such as getting medicine for her dad (a well-cast Clarke Peters) and taking care of her child (Annelle Olaleye).

Justin finds interacting with the alien, who now calls himself Faraday, a bit annoying, to say the least. Harris even believes that this man is a bit mentally unbalanced and who can blame her? However. he may be on to something if she just listens attentively to what he is trying to tell her. As the show proceeds into the next episode, “Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed,” it focuses on Thomas Newton (played by the stupendous Bill Nighy), another alien character who originated in the original The Man Who Fell to Earth film. This character, who arrived on earth 40 years prior to the events of the current show, will certainly play a big role in future episodes. There’s also a CIA man named Spencer Clay (Jimmi Simpson) who finds Faraday a person of interest and Clay also seems like a well-conceived character as well.

Unlike a movie, early shows in a series mostly consist of the development of later episodes so it’s too soon to say whether or not this program will be a success as a whole but it is certainly off to a promising start.

Ejiofor throws himself into his character and is just as strong playing an alien as Jeff Bridges was in Starman. Remember Bridges got an Oscar nod for his work in that movie so that’s no small compliment. As the complete opposite (simply by being a human from Earth), more reserved Justin, Harris is perfectly cast and she plays off of the oddball humor Ejiofor’s “Faraday” conveys superbly. It’s a well-oiled machine when one considers the quality of the acting and the casting is certainly one of the series’ strong points. It’s hard to see how this story could miss given all the exciting elements the series has to work with. This show should develop the interaction between Justin and Faraday further and it’s almost certain that they will find more common ground as episodes continue.

Leave your thoughts on this The Man Who Fell to Earth Season 1 Episodes 1-2 review and these episodes of The Man Who Fell to Earth below in the comments section. Readers seeking more South By Southwest Film Festival news can visit our South By Southwest Film Festival Page, our Film Festival Page, and our Film Festival Facebook Page. Readers seeking more TV show reviews can visit our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page, our TV Show Review Facebook Page, and our TV Show Review Pinterest Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Flipboard.

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Thomas Duffy

Thomas Duffy is a graduate of the Pace University New York City campus and has been an avid movie fan all of his life. In college, he interviewed film stars such as Minnie Driver and Richard Dreyfuss as well as directors such as Tom DiCillo and Mark Waters. He is the author of nine works of fiction available on Amazon. He's been reviewing movies since his childhood and posts his opinions on social media. You can follow him on Twitter. His user handle is @auctionguy28.
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