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« Day Break
November 15, 2006: Time After Time
I’ll admit it: When I first saw the commercials for Day Break, my initial thought was, it’s Groundhog Day meets 24! My second thought was, can a show really sustain such a cool but very specific premise over the long run? Groundhog Day did a masterful job of filling up a 100-minute movie with every single gag and philosophical insight that its writers could think of, but wouldn’t the well run dry after just a couple of episodes on a TV show?
Now that I’ve seen the first two hours, I understand. The neat twist Day Break pulls on us is that there’s enough happening that the show would be interesting even without the time loop. Detective Brett Hopper has to find a key witness on the run, avoid being framed for the murder of a DA, tell his girlfriend and sister to get out of town or face serious consequences, get payback on the sister’s husband for abusing her, and generally figure out who’s behind the conspiracy to frame him and ruin his life. Got all that?
I’m curious whether the whole time-repeating situation will have an explanation, or if it’s just happening due to a mysterious higher power, and we’ll never get a clear answer. If it’s the former, it could prove interesting. Maybe this show will turn into something more like science fiction, with the time-travel stuff becoming front and center. After all, Lost didn’t make clear for a while (or, arguably, still hasn’t) whether the island has something supernatural going on.
Okay, that’s probably just wishful thinking. And I do have one question already about how this phenomenon works. Everything resets itself each morning, except Brett still has all the injuries he sustained from the previous day. Is this meant to suggest that if he dies, he won’t wake up again the next morning? At least it supplies the most clever plot twist so far: He’s able to avoid being arrested at his apartment and stick with Rita long enough to have her provide him with an alibi. But then he has everything blown for him, because he’s got a mysterious bullet wound in his shoulder. That tends to look pretty suspicious when you claim you’ve spent the entire night with your girlfriend.
Taye Diggs is a good match for this role, with the intensity to suggest both his desperation and his relentlessness. I especially like the fact that he only spends a few minutes realizing that he’s trapped in the same day before trying to set things right. It’s probably unrealistic (I assume most people would be a bit confused), but it works for a Jack Bauer-type action hero who’s ready to solve the conspiracy as quickly as possible. However, every time Diggs gets shirtless — which seems to be a lot — it makes me feel like I need a gym membership.
I also liked the small moment when he shows up at the hospital to check on his girlfriend and runs into the woman whom he saved from being hit by the bus. Only this time around he didn’t save her, and she’s in critical condition. “I didn’t go for coffee,” Hopper mutters to himself, already thinking of the long list of people he’s going to have to save with his knowledge of the future. It’s hard enough clearing your name without having to worry about preventing every traffic accident around the city.
And it was great to see Adam Baldwin of Firefly fame playing — surprise! — a slimy, duplicitous villain! Okay, that’s not a surprise; that’s what he’s played on every show in which I’ve ever seen him. In fact, while the episode wanted the revelation that he’s in on the conspiracy to be a huge deal, I just shrugged and thought, “Figures.” He’s too perfect at playing the bad guy. Let’s hope there’s a romantic lead somewhere in the man’s future.
More than anything else, I’m impressed with the way this show doesn’t make each day a separate incident, but has each one logically trigger the next. Once Hopper realizes that he can’t avoid being kidnapped and threatened at the construction site, he decides to blow town with Rita. Then he wakes up the next day with his sheets soaked with blood and is taken straight to the hospital. It goes a long way toward making Day Break feel like a complete story and not just a weekly gimmick.
I know a lot of the hard core Lost fans are ready to throw Day Break under the bus for “replacing” their favorite show for three months, but this show definitely deserves a chance. As Hopper’s situation goes from bad to worse, I keep trying to figure out what he could possibly learn that would teach him how to solve every single little (and not so little) problem. I guess we’ll have the answer in 11 weeks.
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TVGuide Links:
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Nov 15, 2006 11:57 PM
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Yikes! Not only did I enjoy it, I was on the edge of my seat. The hook isn't the deja vu aspect, but the fact that each repeat gives Brett and the viewers another bit of the picture. We're gaining understanding as Brett is. I hit ABC.com after the show and they have a Day Break FAQ. The FAQ states a few things that should ease the viewers' minds. I'm not going to post them here because they might be considered spoilers, but if you're interested, check it out.
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Nov 16, 2006 12:23 AM
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What made Day Break work for me in the first two hours—in addition to the surprisingly deft manner that the show handled the gimmicky plot device (same day over and over)—was the excellent acting. I already knew Taye Diggs had it in him, and I was pleasantly surprised to see two of my old X-Files faves, Mitch Pileggi and Adam Baldwin. But everyone else was just as good, from Hopper's embattled partner Andrea (Victoria Pratt) to his supportive girlfriend Rita (Moon Bloodgood). Based on what I saw in the pilot, I have no problem at all kicking back with this show for the next three months. What will really be interesting is how Day Break will handle a second full season thematically if the first half season does well enough for it to get that far.
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Nov 16, 2006 12:56 AM
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Loved it! This will definately make the 3 month wait a lot easier. I was also on the edge of my seat. As he's trying to figure out what's going on, so are we. The only concern I have is, does he wake up bleeding every day now?
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Nov 16, 2006 1:23 AM
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Wait, you can't be serious. You actually know of Lost fans who are such big babies that they refuse to watch Daybreak because it's replacing Lost reruns? I hope immature fans like that don't cause Daybreak to get cancelled. I really liked the first two hours.
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Nov 16, 2006 1:34 AM
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What irritates me is how everyone is comparing every new show to Lost...um what? Jericho, Heroes, The Nine, and now Day Break. These are all totally different shows people and not every show has to have people stuck on an island. Get over it. Either watch it or don't, but for God's sake, quit comparing everything to LOST!
6 episodes in and we still know nothing...oh, except for the fact that Kate has sex with Sawyer, but may really love Jack, but then all I can think about is who cares?! You have much bigger problems than that people!
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Nov 16, 2006 2:57 AM
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Great show! I agree that Brett's recognition of what was happening seemed a little quick, but I suppose we have to let that slide. I also like that each day is the next step, rather than just repeating everything.
I think Taye Diggs is a good actor, but there were certain scenes where his dialogue seemed forced. Almost like he was performing on stage, which considering Diggs' theatre background, is understandable.
While there's certainly many things going on, I think finding an explanation for the time-repeating thing would be very interesting.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Based on the interview the creator gave to TV Guide and the ABC.com FAQ, it doesn't seem like they will. That's too bad since it's the one storyline that could carry over to future seasons.
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Nov 16, 2006 3:13 AM
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It was pretty good, but I was getting impatient after 90 minutes.
I have a suggestion - keep repeating the same day until Brett figures out a key piece of the puzzle or escapes a trap that lets things move forward. The could repeat the same day for 2 or 3 episodes and then go to the next day. Also, if you did that, it might be cool to go forward a few days and then have Brett screw something up so that he actually gets sent back a couple of days and has to start all over again.
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Nov 16, 2006 3:25 AM
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The show is SS DD
Where is medium Blog or commentary?!!
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Nov 16, 2006 8:13 AM
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I was going to watch this show no matter what because Taye Diggs stars in it-- you got to support the Original Broadway Cast of Rent!
This show was a lot better than I thought it would be, I like that it will nicely be wrapped up in 11 weeks, so we will definitely have an answer.
I'll keep watching this one!
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Nov 16, 2006 9:14 AM
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I was very pleasantly surprised. My friend won't even give it a shot because she doesn't like Taye Diggs, boy do I wish that she knew what she was missing.
Lost is my favorite show and while I am going to miss it like crazy, Day Break seems like it will be a nice fill-in in the interim.
Murpy71984, he should be fine the next time he wakes up, or at least better. He won't wake up bleeding everyday because they patched him up at the hospital. Now he just needs to heal (if he's able to stop hurting that same shoulder as he did last night when he punched out one of the cops).
When I heard that his injuries were not going to heal overnight I also wondered how that was going to work. But, I loved that when Rita was finally able to provide the police with the alibi that Brett had been telling them about in the previous two days, they couldn't possibly buy it because he had been shot and she couldn't explain it! I also liked when Rita said it looked like someone had butchered him when she was the one that actually did the butchering while she was trying to remove the bullet!
Oh, and I liked how Brett tried to stay up that one night hoping that the day would just continue to go on. I would have tried that too, but when 6:18 a.m. came back around he was back in bed although he had just been driving moments before.
I'm also wondering how this show could do another season, but for now I'm going to enjoy the ride! 
There are so many other interesting aspects to this show, but I'm going to stop now before my post is ridiculously long. What a great pilot!
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Nov 16, 2006 9:47 AM
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I watched this only because I was getting the kids to bed after Dancing with the Stars and hadn't turned off the TV. We thought it looked hokey & unsustainable from the previews. Every 15 minutes I told my husband to turn it off because we didn't want to get hooked. Two hours later we programmed the TV for next week's episode! It's nice to be wrong & nice to have something thrilling & smart to watch while we wait for 24 to return.
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Nov 16, 2006 10:00 AM
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I was surprised that the pilot worked as well as it did. Things made sense and there weren't tons of plot holes or repetition, which considering TD is waking up on the same day over and over is no small accomplishment. Matt Roush panned this, but this is one of the few times I can say he's got it wrong. Of course, with a full season this might start to spin out of control, a cable-style mini season might just make this play out nicely. And Lost fans, (I'm one) get over yourselves. Complaints of not enough answers, yet not happy with anything less than a new episode every week, like ABC could produce 40 shows a year and make money. Uh....right.
A couple of nits to pick. I counted at least 25 or 26 shots that Hopper fired at that speeding car when standing in the road. Seeing as I'm a bleeding heart liberal with limited knowledge of firearms, I thought the average clip held 14 or so rounds. Anyone?
And what was up with his partner "covering" his escape by yelling his name rather than just taking out the badguy. Doesn't seem like the appropriate response when you've got a gun and lead is flying, at least to me.
But overall, I'm definitely along for the ride. Thank the dvd gods for letting me get Medium's premier at the same time. Tech is a wonderful thing.
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Nov 16, 2006 10:12 AM
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Totally agree with everyone who liked this show! And to Matt Roush - I respect and admire your opinions and insight, but you're wrong on this one.
Hopper keeps his wounds and bruises because the day repeats only for him. For everyone else, it's just a day like any other. Different things happen and are spurred forward by what Hopper chooses to do or not do ...
This is going to be a good filler for Lost and has enough action and thinking to make it an enjoyable ride!
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Nov 16, 2006 11:24 AM
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blueree (and others), check out the tvguide.com's feature on day break; they explain what their plan is for future seasons. basically, hopper finds himself caught in another loop on another day, months down the line. only this time, he a)knows right away what's going on (in so much as he'll be repeating that day) and b)there's a way out once he puts everything together.
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Nov 16, 2006 11:47 AM
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