The Others
"Eyes"

Airdate: February 19, 2000

Seeing demons is just another of those sideeffects that the doctors never tell you about.

The Others is probably the most beautiful show on TV today, and chances are its only going to become more so. From the dramatic lighting to the gorgeous opening credits to the exceptional special FX, this is a cinematic, masterfully produced program rivaled only by Vancouver-era X-Files in terms of sheer visionary grandeur. The only problem is that, so far, there's not much going on beneath the surface.

"Eyes" marks Glen Morgan and James Wong's return to genre television, and while certainly a step up from the first two episodes, it still fails to live up to the potential of this very promising series. This doesn't really bother me, however, because I've seen it happen before -- watching "Eyes" reminded me of viewing Morgan and Wong's debut as executive producers on Millennium, "Beware of the Dog." That was a decent episode -- at times a very good one -- but it gave no indication of the incredible, outstanding contributions from this team of writers that rocked Millennium out of its serial killer coma later that season. "Eyes" was an episode still navigating the course of the series, feeling out the characters and premise, setting the groundwork for what is to come.

Albert remembers his days in Vietnam, though he wishes he didn't.

Jim Pirri (Union Square -- yes, that Union Square -- and he was good, too!) plays a man tormented by visions of demons baring a great resemblance to those in the recent remake of House on Haunted Hill. This is because the episode was directed by Hill's William Malone, who did far better work with far better material, giving the series some of its creepiest and most effective moments to date. Only Pirri can see these demons, and it's up to The Others -- the group of paranormal experts established in the pilot episode -- to help him before he blinds himself.

"Eyes" contains a nice set-up -- the episode initially encourages you to believe the visions come from eye surgery, only to have it be something far more disturbing -- but the series has a way to go in terms of character development. The main problem is Marian, played by lead actress Julianne Nicholson, who can't, well, act. I want to like Nicholson and I want to like this character, as she eats up an awful lot of screen time, but her dim-witted, flat delivery makes the supernatural ability of Dionne Warwick seem credible by comparison. Much more interesting is John Aylward as Albert, a tortured, blind Vietnam veteran who stole "Eyes"' every scene, due in part to the touching but never melodramatic dialogue given to him by Morgan and Wong. This is a character I can get emotionally involved in. Let's hope he, Bill Cobbs and Missy Crider (who are great as Elmer and Satori, respectively) take more of a central role and leave the more boring psychic friends -- Nicholson and Gabriel Macht, a living personification of Freddy from Scooby Doo -- on the sidelines.

-- Sarah Kendzior

The Others airs at 10pm EST/8pm MNT, Saturdays on NBC.

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