The Passage (TV series)

Last updated

The Passage
The Passage (TV series) Title Card.jpg
Genre Thriller [1]
Created by Liz Heldens
Based on The Passage
by Justin Cronin
Starring
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producers
Cinematography
  • Ramsey Nickell
  • Byron Shah
Editors
  • Pietro Cecchini
  • Kelley Dixon
  • Christopher S. Capp
Running time44 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Fox
ReleaseJanuary 14 (2019-01-14) 
March 11, 2019 (2019-03-11)

The Passage is an American thriller television series based on the trilogy of novels by Justin Cronin. It spans years in the life of Amy Bellafonte, as she moves from being manipulated in a government conspiracy to protecting humankind in a post-apocalyptic vampire future. The series premiered on January 14, 2019. [2] The Passage was cancelled after one season on May 10, 2019. [3]

Contents

Synopsis

The Passage focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all disease, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race. When a young girl, Amy Bellafonte, is chosen to be a test subject, Federal Agent Brad Wolgast is tasked with bringing her to Project Noah. Ultimately, however, Wolgast becomes her surrogate father, as he tries to protect her at any cost. Brad and Amy's journey will force them to confront Project Noah's lead scientist, Major Nichole Sykes, and the hardened ex-CIA operative in charge of operations, Clark Richards, whom Brad trained. It likewise brings them face-to-face with a dangerous new race of beings confined within the walls of Project Noah, including former scientist Tim Fanning and death-row inmate Shauna Babcock. As Project Noah's scientists hone in on a cure that could save humanity, these new beings begin to test their own powers, inching one step closer to an escape that could lead to an unimaginable apocalypse. [4]

Cast

Production

Development

In July 2007, Fox 2000 paid $1.75 million for the film rights to The Passage by Justin Cronin. [9] In September 2009, John Logan was announced to be writing a screenplay with Ridley Scott attached to direct. [10] In April 2011, Matt Reeves was announced as director. [11] In June 2011, Jason Keller was hired to rewrite Logan's screenplay. [12] The producers decided that the project would work better as a television series and in November 2016, Fox gave a pilot production commitment. [13] Reeves said that the book was "not adaptable as a movie". [14] In January 2017, Fox ordered the pilot. [15] In August 2017, Fox Entertainment president David Madden told Deadline that there would be potential re-shoots to the pilot. [16] In February 2018, it was revealed that there would be re-shoots of the pilot, to take place in March in Atlanta. [17] In May 2018, Fox ordered the pilot to series. [18]

Casting

In June 2017, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Saniyya Sidney, Genesis Rodriguez, Brianne Howey, B. J. Britt and Jennifer Ferrin were announced to have been cast in the pilot. [19] On February 8, 2018, it was announced that the characters played by Rodriguez, Britt and Ferrin would be written out of the show and that three new characters, Tim Fanning, Nichole Sykes and Lila Kyle, would be added. [20] On February 14, 2018, Jamie McShane was cast as Fanning while Caroline Chikezie was cast as Sykes. [6] The next day Emmanuelle Chriqui was cast as Kyle. [21]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Pilot" Jason Ensler & Marcos Siega Liz Heldens January 14, 2019 (2019-01-14)1LAK015.23 [22]
2"You Owe Me a Unicorn"Jason EnslerLiz HeldensJanuary 21, 2019 (2019-01-21)1LAK024.23 [23]
3"That Never Should Have Happened to You"Jason EnslerPeter ElkoffJanuary 28, 2019 (2019-01-28)1LAK033.95 [24]
4"Whose Blood is That?" Allison Liddi-Brown Daniel Thomsen February 4, 2019 (2019-02-04)1LAK043.80 [25]
5"How You Gonna Outrun the End of the World?" Jeffrey Nachmanoff Joy BlakeFebruary 11, 2019 (2019-02-11)1LAK053.66 [26]
6"I Want to Know What You Taste Like"Jessica LowreyDennis SalduaFebruary 18, 2019 (2019-02-18)1LAK063.51 [27]
7"You Are like the Sun" Eduardo Sanchez Kate EricksonFebruary 25, 2019 (2019-02-25)1LAK073.30 [28]
8"You Are Not That Girl Anymore" Ti West Peter Elkoff & C.A. JohnsonMarch 4, 2019 (2019-03-04)1LAK083.38 [29]
9"Stay in the Light"Jason EnslerDaniel Thomsen & Vanessa GomezMarch 11, 2019 (2019-03-11)1LAK093.12 [30]
10"Last Lesson" Mark Tonderai Liz Heldens & Joy BlakeMarch 11, 2019 (2019-03-11)1LAK103.05 [30]

Reception

Critical reception

The series holds an approval rating of 62% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 7.02/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Strong performances from leads Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Saniyya Sidney can't course correct The Passage's wayward plot and feeble tone." [31] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 62 out of 100 based on 17 critics. [32]

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian praised the father–daughter dynamic between Brad and Amy and the series' execution of a "daft" storyline. [33] Alison Herman, writing for The Ringer, said that the novels were a poor fit for network television and criticized some of the show's deviations from the source material. [34]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of The Passage
No.TitleAir date Rating/share
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
DVR
(18–49)
DVR viewers
(millions)
Total
(18–49)
Total viewers
(millions)
1"Pilot"January 14, 20191.3/65.23 [22] 0.93.472.28.70 [35]
2"You Owe Me a Unicorn"January 21, 20191.0/54.23 [23] 0.93.251.97.56 [36]
3"That Never Should Have Happened To You"January 28, 20190.9/43.95 [24] 0.82.801.76.75 [37]
4"Whose Blood is That?"February 4, 20190.9/43.80 [25] 0.92.991.86.83 [38]
5"How You Gonna Outrun The End of The World?"February 11, 20190.9/43.66 [26] 0.82.771.76.43 [39]
6"I Want To Know What You Taste Like"February 18, 20190.9/43.51 [27] 0.72.641.66.15 [40]
7"You Are like the Sun"February 25, 20190.8/43.30 [28] 0.82.611.65.91 [41]
8"You Are Not That Girl Anymore"March 4, 20190.9/43.38 [29] 0.72.611.56.00 [42]
9"Stay in the Light"March 11, 20190.8/43.12 [30] 0.62.171.45.30 [43]
10"Last Lesson"March 11, 20190.7/33.05 [30] 0.62.211.35.27 [43]

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References

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