The Messengers (2015)

With such a complicated subject matter, The Messengers certainly has its work cut out for it to stay coherent while still staying accessible. But the pilot moves briskly enough, keeping up the desire to learn how these people deal with their newfound powers and identities, and how they will react when The Man comes a-calling.

The Messengers looks as though it has a handle on how to pull this off with some flair and identity of its own.

There is some hokum in the pilot, including the odd B-movie line ("This could be a very important scientific site") and the red glowing eyes that ever signify evil. But it is smartly assembled--Stephen Williams, who directed 26 episodes of "Lost," made the good-looking pilot--and there may be enough gas in these characters to get them somewhere interesting.

The Messengers certainly offers enough in its premiere to be worth a return visit next week, just to see where it’s going.

The pilot is a rough go, winging from one angel to the next, necessary perhaps to set the premise but a slog. Nobody from the cast makes much of an impression.

That’s the setup for this story [A meteor crashes to earth in New Mexico, sending out shockwaves that affect five people], which is unevenly acted but features a compelling story about angels.

The Messengers seems far-fetched, even by [The CW's] standards.

The pilot is more setup than anything else, and its characters so far aren't that interesting.

“I am confused about everything,” Peter tells his girlfriend before fleeing the scene of a bully smackdown. Sampling The Messengers, you may be too.

Obviously, the show could improve, but nothing in the first hour--from the flaccid script to the indifferent casting--is likely to leave you thinking it will.

Press notes indicate these five folks impacted by the shockwave are “angels of the apocalypse,” but Messengers never comes out and says this. A general rule of thumb in TV reviewing: When press notes do a better job of explaining a show's intent than the show itself, viewers beware.

It's a bit of a jumble and not particularly compelling.

As constructed, The Messengers is one of those teasing constructs that elicits more skepticism than enthusiasm, initially revealing little about the nature of the threat or what must be done to prevent it, while introducing its players without conjuring much of an investment in them.