Hello, Junior Varsity here, reporting on The Black Dawn series, which we mentioned previously in our first podcast.
Now that I’ve seen the whole thing, I’m much more satisfied than my initial impressions. It is true that the series has a very low budget, however, I think it should be said that Star Trek had a low budget when it first started. Black Dawn might not be on proportion with Star Trek, but it has a lot going for it.
Take the story. At the first glance, one might be tempted to let it go, simply because the scenario seems so implausible. But over the course of the seven episodes, everything about the phenomenon is revealed in a very good way. They tell you what the virus is, where it came from, how it came into being, and even why those specific people survived.
At first, I thought the reason might be because the virus targeted people who carry specific genes (like that episode of Fringe: The Bishop Revival, season two). But the answer here isn’t as obvious as that. I don’t want to give it away, so you’ll have to watch to find out.
Overall, the show went places I didn’t really expect it to go, and it certainly wasn’t shy about killing off its characters. I think the story did a good job of showing honest reactions to a sudden viral onslaught. I mean, suddenly finding yourself with only twelve other people and not knowing why, people are going to behave in funny ways. For similar movie tastes, I would point to the upcoming movie, The Divide. The Divide is about a group of people who get trapped in a bunker by an apocalyptic scenario as well (although it’s not a virus…it’s something else…meteors maybe? missile attack?) Anyway, the mind-bending-crazy-ness is obviously present in the trailer for that, which I think can be found on Youtube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJCxT2d5hzk
Looks freaky, doesn’t it? Also really awesome.
I was curious about The Black Dawn and looked into it after I watched the first episode. For more information, you can visit the project’s webpage, here: http://www.theblackdawn.com/
I was surprised by the end how much I was invested in the characters. The acting is pretty good, sometimes a little over the top, but I thought there were some quality moments of truth going on. All seven episodes that I watched are available for free on Hulu. Check it out.
Now that you’re all updated on that, enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you for my regular post on Saturday!
-Junior Varsity out.
The Red Shirt Crew Blog and Podcast Network 