Believe

This entire series will rise (or tumble to oblivion) on the shoulders of their characters, and on whatever chemistry they create. First impressions are that it will indeed rise.

Believe is well-paced, clever, perfectly cast (Kyle MacLachlan always makes a supporting cast more interesting), and engaging. Even the action scenes, including a tense moment in a hospital hallway, are well-choreographed.

Grand special effects, impressive acting by the young Sequoyah and an enduring interest in all things supernatural may help Believe to catch on.

Sequoyah is an appealing presence, doing what she can with an impossible wonder-kid role. And Cuarón is incapable of creating a boring shot. But he won't direct every episode. The only actor in the pilot who seems to be having any fun is Sienna Guillory as a hitwoman.

Cuarón's contributions behind the camera are by far the most interesting part of Believe.

As you'd hope from an hour directed by Cuarón, Monday's premiere moves swiftly and surely, with well-shot action sequences and bursts of visual flare, led by a nightmarish image of birds coming to Bo's rescue. Small touches of humor mix with large doses of pseudo-spiritual sentiment.... Yet for all those flourishes, nothing really shakes that feeling that it's all been done before and it won't end well.

When Believe tries to be meaningful, it's also at its most obvious, and the show could prove to be too willfully touching for its own good. But it doesn't seem impossible to me that they could get the mix right.

Believe does require a few leaps of belief from viewers. The law seems surprisingly indifferent, for instance, to locating this escaped Death Row inmate. Still, with its seriously flawed “hero” and a girl who’s hard to resist, Believe could be an interesting ride.

Believe works best as a relentless chase scene. The first episode (directed by Cuarón) has some limberness to its movement, but, like so much else in this particular genre, produces a lukewarm result.

Believe is thoroughly devoted to its feel-good ideals, like cascading compassion and non-violence.... In lesser hands, Believe could come off like a knockoff-Terrence Malick life insurance ad. But for all his spirituality, Cuarón’s an earthy director.

There are two last-minute twists that stretch and nearly break any credulity.

The pilot is at its best when Cuaron's visual choreography takes center stage; at its worst, when any of the characters open their mouths.

The chase scenes are great, a special-effects scene toward the end of the episode is great, but the mix of action-suspense, supernatural and schmaltz doesn't quite blend well.

Neither the plot nor the characters are sufficiently evocative to suggest that viewers will want to spend months, much less years, following them.

An OK (but visually unexceptional) pilot that does little to set viewers up for what the show will be on a week-to-week basis.

That Bo’s gifts remain somewhat beyond her control or comprehension makes her a puzzle but also predictable. Bo will indeed be on a winding road, as she must be just a bit of a person who will irritate and mystify her jokester-action-hero protector, as she must seem both odd and sympathetic to the adults watching her, in her world and in yours.

Believe doesn't do nearly enough to stand out, beyond some very pretty blue butterflies and a declaration that only the bad guys will be carrying guns.

Despite some beautiful images--starting with bright blue butterflies--Believe has the makings of a very old-fashioned procedural, with Tate and Bo destined to journey from place to place changing the lives of those she meets with her cryptic insights while staying one step ahead from those who would capture her.

The characters don’t live up to the swirling, often violent action that surrounds them.

Believe substitutes mawkish sentiment for character development and thinks mysterious incidents and procedural beats constitute a story.

Suspending disbelief would be a lot more enjoyable if we hadn't seen it all before.

It is a terrible sign when a show has no sense of humor, but Believe almost has too much of it. It looks great--Cuarón, who just won an Oscar, directed, after all--but there is something off-puttingly cutesy about it.

Sequoyah is a charmer, and a few of the action sequences help grease the wheels on this fast-paced ride. Yet it's not enough to make up for the cloying and cliched writing.