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Critic Reviews
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A bit melodramatic, a bit manipulative, Touch is still one of the best pilots of the 2011-12 season to date.
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So far, its mix of spirituality and science, familial and global struggles, is galvanizing.
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There is a sense of adventure and uplift in Touch that is rare in current procedurals. It might just be enough to connect it to an audience thirsty to see Sutherland save the world in quieter, smaller increments--and with the occasional smile.
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The one great redemptive asset--and it's significant--is Kiefer Sutherland. [26 Mar 2012, p.41]
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Overall, the first episode delivers a suspenseful ride around the world, peppered with some tear-jerking moments.
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Yes, the show is intriguing, and it's great to have Sutherland back on TV. But frankly, it's awfully complicated.
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There's heavy-handed imagery, and the show will rise or fall depending on the different weekly encounters with Jake. [27 Jan 2012, p.68]
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Viewers should try to connect with Touch. There's something intriguing about it.
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[Touch is] emotionally compelling but wildly fantastical and undeniably manipulative.
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We'll see if audiences can tolerate the notion of profound interrelatedness as weekly entertainment.
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The pilot for Touch is actually rather intriguing and well-executed. My problem with the show is projecting how well it will play a couple of months into its run.
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It's Mr. Sutherland's portrayal of the father--unyielding in his effort to break through to his mute child and grasp what he's trying to say with his numbers--that is the heart of this story, the power likely to sustain this promising enterprise.
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Touch needs more work grounding its reality before any of these fantasies take flight.
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It's an interesting, emotionally manipulative but still effective hour of television.
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Unfortunately, [Sutherland's] disciplined performance is done in by an undisciplined show that moves too slowly to put limits on Jake's powers.
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It's all very new-agey and a bit pretentious.
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The 11-year-old boy at the center of the story has never spoken and is also the show's narrator. It's a perfectly acceptable device, if not a particularly interesting one in this case.
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Nothing about these connections feels particularly earned and many of the twists and turns of the pilot feel contrived and obvious, especially toward the end.
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Its spirit is willing, but the construction has foundation problems.
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In some parts, Touch is pleasantly moving and even tightly woven, until it becomes too blunt in its purposeful yanking of heartstrings.
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What's on the screen is a likable but dumb TV version of what the film scholar David Bordwell calls a "network narrative."
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It still remains to be seen what it looks like as a series; with some stronger writing and deeper character work, it could build on its math-superpower idea to make something intriguing and emotional.
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Touch feels like yet another series--last week it was Alcatraz--that seemed like a better idea for a one-shot movie than a weekly TV series.
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It's not clear from one episode whether the show's warm and fuzzy message can successfully counterbalance implausibility.
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Touch has its "We Are the World" heart in the right place. But like another song says, we don't need another "Heroes."
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For all its numbers wizardry, the overmanipulative Touch doesn't yet add up.
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Ironically, given a show that so clearly wants to touch its audience--from that weighty one-word title on down--we have met, apart from Martin, hardly a single character who incorporates more than the hint of an actual person.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 61 out of 98
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Mixed: 23 out of 98
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Negative: 14 out of 98
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Apr 6, 2012
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Mar 25, 2012
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May 3, 2012