Tru Calling is back on television, as hard as it is to believe. But while I was watching a thought struck me about the timing, which I will get to in a minute. First I can't believe that I am seeing new episodes again.
I remember when the show first came on in the Fall of 2003, it was maligned by critics, and not terribly well supported by viewers. I was one of the few that liked the premise and thought it had some promise. Near the halfway point of that fateful season it started to slip away, how many more episodes could play out in a similar fashion? It was teetering on the brink of sliding down that slippery slope into oblivion. Then Jason Priestly joined the cast and injected some life into the proceedings. The second half began a slow build to a satisfying end to the season. But let us back up a bit, I know a lot of you are probably unfamiliar with the series, and if not for the demise of Point Pleasant, many of you would have never had the chance.
The basic idea behind the series was that Tru Davies, played the lovely Eliza Dushku, would have days "rewind" in order for her to save someone who had died. She is a would be medical student who works the night shift at the morgue, sometimes a body would come in and it would talk to her, generally something simple like "Help me!" At this point the day would restart with her retaining all the memories she had acquired in the day that never was which she would use to prevent the results from repeating. There was never any explanation of where the ability came from, but soon enough she enlisted her boss at the morgue, Davis, and her brother Harry. She also discovered that her mother who had died mysteriously years before had the ability as well. Enter Jason Priestly as Jack, at first he was just a strange co-worker, then he started to appear to have the same information as Tru, and the people she was trying to save were still dying. It turns out that Jack was the opposite of Tru, where Tru sees people to save, Jack sees fate to be preserved. You see, some people are meant to die, and it is not up to Tru to, essentially, play God. This sets up a battle between the two with peoples lives in the balance. The first season ended with the revelation that Tru's father was in the same position as Jack, playing the opposite of his wife. Now we're getting somewhere.
With that said, I, and at least one other fan that I knew, was looking forward to a second season although no announcement had been made. That was back in the Spring of 2004. Then came the announcement that it had been renewed for a second season. I was looking forward to seeing where they would take the show, but as the 2004 season neared, it was announced that the show was being cancelled, despite a number of episodes already being shot. I was a bit deflated, but I'd get over it, it wasn't like when Farscape had the rug pulled out from under it, that made me very upset.
A week or two ago, I read that Point Pleasant was being cancelled and immediately removed from the schedule, and that it would be replaced with the previously completed episodes of the second season of Tru Calling. This caught my attention, and I made it a point to catch the premiere this past Thursday. They aired two episodes as the initial showcase.
Both episodes were quite good, they added a new layer of complexity as Tru is now auditing classes in med school. Now she must balance her morgue work, schoolwork, and day rewinds, not to mention an escalating competition of sorts with Jack. Neither one stood out as anything spectacular, but they were worlds better than any episode of Point Pleasant. The one thing I have always liked about the show during it's brief run was the fun factor, it never seems to take itself to seriously, yet the serious undercurrent still flows throughout. It is a decent balance which keeps it from reeling into the absurd or careening into the deadly serious drama.
But I have taken the long route in getting to the thought that spurred me to write this. The timing of it's return, considering the shows concept seems strangely appropriate considering a recent event. The event I am referring to is the recent death of Terry Schiavo. I am not writing to create controversy or take sides, as I have not given it enough thought and have not yet made up my mind on the matter, much like last week's episode of South Park where jabs and points were made for both sides of the issue. That being said, I think the timing of Tru Calling's return is rather timely.
There was the huge controversy over the Terri Schiavo case (that sounds so impersonal, but how to say it? Controversy? Incident?) with the right to life and quality of life and right to die sides all fighting for what they felt to be the right thing to do. Sadly, Terri has passed on, but the issue remains. Now along comes this show which is dealing with a similar issue on a weekly basis, and the season premiere just happens to come the day after Terri is passing. Here is a show which features two sides fighting against the middle. On one side we have Tru, who feels that all life is precious and will fight as hard as it takes to preserve said life and week after week, well so far this season twice in one night but lasts season, yes, week after week. Tru takes this ability of hers very seriously and puts everything on the line in order to save life. Opposing her in this weekly struggle is Jack, who feels that fate is not to be tread on lightly, those people who die are meant to do so. It is not up to Tru to save these lives which are not meant to continue. Each person that Tru saves, it is up to Jack to make sure that she dies, again as the case may be, within that day, ideally at the same time it was supposed to happen, b it the same day will do. In this variation on a theme, Tru plays the role of Terri's parents, the Schindler's, fighting with all the resources they have to save their daughter, while Jack fulfills the role of her husband, Michael Schiavo, fighting for what he believes were Terri's wishes, and the what amounts to the right to die, the need to die. In both instances you have one side who is fighting to extend life through extraordinary means or not, the belief is that life is precious and we cannot decide who will die, although that is also playing God in choosing who should live, while you also have a side that feels that those who have died need to remain dead, again it is not up to us to decide what the greater plan is, if they died or are dying there must be a reason for it and we should not stand in the way of it.
It seems like an interesting coincidence that a show that deals with extending the lives of those who are dead or dying and the opposing position of fate and the need of some people to die and the recent national, and probably international news attention that the Schiavo case (there it is again) should happen to so conveniently coincide with one another. I am not trying to imply an connection between the two, I really doubt that Fox had anything to do with it, I am just thinking that the timing of the two seems to wedge nicely together.
Thoughts?
This is also at Blogcritics.org
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