The panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2010 was not “The Event.” Although the deepest intricacies of the show were not revealed, the pilot succeeded in flexing the show’s special effects and acting talent’s muscle, while providing enough of a story to whet any now-defunct LOST fan’s appetite for mystery.

SPOILERS BELOW

We start the story with a scenario every frequent flyer fears: A man, a gun, and his desire to get into the cockpit of an airborne plane. But a plane hijacking is not “The Event.” We later learn that the hijacker is not some cliché fanatic pursuing some twistedly concocted would-be holy deed, but a man who has lost someone that he cared for, deeply. The frame cuts to a backstory. The man is Sean Walker (Jason Ritter) and he is anything but belligerent. We see him as a properly unconfident young man asking for the blessing of a father, Michael Buchanan (Scott Patterson), to marry his daughter, Leila Buchanan (Sarah Roemer). Stumbling on words and obviously perturbed in composure, he receives it through the compassionate reassurances of Michael. It is but a formality after all, Sean and Leila have been together for 7 years and his relations with her family are strong. They rejoin the rest of the Buchanans as Sean and Leila are sent off on a romantic cruise, where Sean had planned to pop the question.

Simon Lee (Ian Anthony Dale) is not helping to alleviate stereotypes. Frantically talking on his cell phone, he haphazardly flies through lights and between cars in his black SUV, all the while attempting to persuade a flight controller to stop a plane from taking off, the flight containing Sean Walker. He pleads, stressing the importance of stopping the plane, eventually feigning a bomb threat, just to emphasize urgency. The flight controller is unable to stop the flight as it had already been cleared for takeoff. Simon plows through the chain-link fences cordoning off the runway and begins a desperate race with the plane, in the end, failing to prevent its departure. But a drag race between an SUV and a plane is not "The Event,” nor was the following commercial break.

President Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood) and one of his advisors, Blake Sterling (Zeljko Ivanek) are in the oval office discussing something that seems to have been omitted from the President’s briefing. Words like “prisoners” and “detainees” fly and the oh-so-popular “need to know basis” line is delivered. Obviously offended, Elias swears to free them after which he and Blake join other advisors in the living room of a large house in Florida. The advisors tell the president that the liberation of the prisoners is a bad idea, taking stabs at and drawing parallels to his cultural and emotional ties to Gitmo because of his Afro-Cuban heritage. Remaining steadfast, Martinez decides to carry on with the plan and meets the revealed leader of the detainees, Sophia (Laura Innes), in the hallway of the house. We see the preparations for a banquet taking place outside, black and white tablecloths on circular tables topped with glassware, white china, silverware, centerpieces arranged for a social event, but alas, it is not "The Event".

Sean and Leila are enjoying their vacation. Their boat is docked on a tropical island, and the happy couple is relaxing on the beach. Insert character building dialog here. Sean leaves Leila in the room to go snorkeling. Insert more character and story building. Sean returns, only to find that his room key doesn’t work. After a slightly embarrassing scene, we find that all evidence of their romantic getaway, including Leila herself, are missing and Sean is stranded.

The story cuts to the cockpit of a plane. Sean pounds on the door to the cockpit. “You don’t have to do this,” he cries. At the Presidential banquet, secret service stirs. They rush indoors toward the president and Sophia, putting fingers to their earpieces as they receive the details of an attack. The president is rushed outside and into a car where his wife, Christina (Lisa Vidal), and son, David (Sayeed Shahidi) are waiting, obviously distressed by the situation. The camera frames a plane, diving head first at the car that houses the president and his family. In a blink the plane vanishes with a loud whoosh the place settings and tables are thrown about like litter in a tornado. Sophia turns to the President, “they saved us.”

“Who saved us?” he replies.

“I haven’t told you everything.”

Conspiracy, vanishing planes, mysterious “Others.” What’s not to like about the pilot of The Event? It managed to, somehow, not answer any of the questions, pose even more, and still have me anticipating the next episode. Who are these mysterious saviours and why are they prisoners? Why the cover up and how long have they known? What happened to the plane and its passengers? Those who know me know that, although I liked the premise, I was not a fan of LOST. I watched it, all of it, hoping that at some point I could get over how needlessly drawn out the show was, but in the end, I still didn’t particularly care for it. Based on the previews and even watching the pilot, I was worried that would have the same pacing as LOST, needlessly withholding answers and dragging on plot elements ad nauseum. To my relief, the panel addressed my fears up front and without me having to ask. They said that we can expect to know answers to some pretty major questions within the first two episodes. Is one of those answers the answer to the question, “What is ‘The Event?’” Probably not, but The Event is a television event that you will not want to miss this fall.

ComicsOnline gives The Event 4 out of 5 of the most promising new shows to watch during Fall 2010.

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