Much like Clea DuVall, Alison Tollman needs to be in a lot more than she's been given. She speaks with quirk and wit, with a rapid fire delivery only Lauren Graham used to possess. She's lovely to watch, from a beauty standard and an acting one, with an expressive face that draws you in, and keeps you captive and loving it.
Emergence could have been her takeoff, and it should have been. Here Tollman is in a heroic role and playing the everywoman. Her maternal motives are clear and never wavering on any moral angle. In fact, primarily the rest of the cast are to deal with the moral implications this show raises, while Tollman is driving the boat on nerve and emotion. It's such a treat!
The series itself, as a stand-alone season, is impressive in that it takes a concept told a hundred times and finds the other hundred ways that story could be told. This one season feels so much like three, with so much plot packed in, but the viewer is never lost or questioning why Tollman is making the decisions she is. That's a testament to the writers as well. Solid dialogue in every episode, along with great editing, keeps this jam-packed show moving at a quick pace.
It might only have enough for a one-day binge, and it might leave you absolutely yearning for more, or just more of Tollman, but Emergence is American science fiction done well, and done right.
It even goes so far as fix the Haley Joel Osment quandary from AI: how far can you stretch one child actor's wonder and innocence far enough it won't totally ruin what you're watching?
The answer: Tollman, and really good writing.
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