Star-Crossed

The emo-dialogue only sounds good if you’re just watching your first TV show..... The show’s decade-forward future is intriguing but inconsistent.

Star-Crossed looks as though it intends to take itself very seriously as an allegory for a futuristic brand of race relations. It’s also a budding love story, with Emery and Roman blowing hot and cold for one another while a seemingly goodly human student named Grayson (Grey Damon) hopes to cut in and claim her.

It's hard to see how they'll keep this story engaging over time (which is not to say it can't be done). Star-Crossed is without question a cool concept. There's romance, testosterone overload (and whatever the Atrian hormone is), conflict, betrayal, family melodrama, red-plastic-cup parties, a little sci-fi. It's more than enough for liftoff.

The tone is mostly dreary and the plot with few exceptions goes precisely where you expect.

Star-Crossed never really catches fire.

With a premise that's at least 20 years past its "fresh until" date, the issues in Star-Crossed get handled with mostly predictable, rote exploration to the point that one has to wonder, does this show matter? Probably not.

The astrological outlook for Star-Crossed hinges almost entirely on whether the chemistry between Lanter and Teegarden yields the desired swoons. Because through two episodes, anyway, the impediments thrown in the way of their relationship, while duly soapy, aren’t interesting enough to make any of the supporting players pop.