Second Look: Threshold

In the fall of 2005, all three major networks had one word TV shows that dealt with an alien threat.  NBC’s Surface was the first to go to a watery grave, ABC’s Invasion held out almost to the end and in the middle was CBS’s Threshold. Perhaps it would have made it if it hadn’t been part of a indistinguishable set of three.

Actually, three is a very important number in Threshold.  It’s the number of arms in the alien fractal pattern that pushes people to kill. But that’s getting ahead of myself.  Let’s take a step back.

Molly Caffrey (Carla Gugino, Karen Sisco) is into worst-case scenarios. She’s the person you go to if the stock market crashes, a tidal wave takes out California or if aliens invade.  In this case, the aliens in question show up as a viral signal that infects some people and kills others.  No spaceship (though there is a cool multi-multi-dimensional floatee object), and no rubber masks.  Lower the make-up budget on this one folks, since the aliens are just folks, programmed to infect or kill.

Caffrey puts together a team to combat the threat, a la the Wildfire Lab in Andromeda Strain.  Start with NASA microbiologist, and unhappy camper, Dr. Nigel Fenway (Brent Spiner, Star Trek: The Next Generation); neurotic physicist Lucas Pegg (Rob Benedict, Felicity); math genius, linguist and all around party boy Arthur Ramsey (Peter Dinklage, I’m With Her); and covert ops babysitter Sean Cavennaugh (Brian Van Holt, House of Wax).

Though the series deals with an alien threat, it’s more CSI than X-Files.  Week after week, the Threshold team goes into the field to follow up on a crime scene caused by the latest infectee.  Figuring out how the virus is spreading and finding a cure for it are top priorities and that means lots of scenes in the lab and much scientific jabber.

Like Invasion, Threshold is about aliens working on creating a hybrid human for the purposes of. . . .you guessed it, taking over the world.  But what really sets the two shows apart is the locale.  Invasion is about a small town, cut off from the world, battling the threat all alone.  Threshold is based in Washington DC and is a metaphor for how government handles a national crisis; infectees are jailed without rights, their loved ones (the ones who survived) are told that the infectee is dead and then there’s the full-scale cover-up to hide the real reason normal people are going mad.

Threshold is unusual in that it sides with the government conspiracy. It goes on the basis of ‘you can’t handle the truth’ and thus it’s better to lie to the public for their own good.  Caffrey is stuck in the unenviable position between the politicians and the scientists and the FBI. Having to fight for a larger budget while battling a threat that sends a guy traveling through a wood chipper makes for an interesting time.

Threshold lives on the chemistry of the characters that you’ll find reminiscent of the squints and Booth on Bones. There’s plenty of action, some gore and a cool plot.  Who can you trust when the bad guys are us? Hmm. . speaking of government metaphors. . .

Even if you tried it once, Threshold deserves a second look.  You can buy the full season on DVD but don’t expect a full-blown finale, they never made one.  Just want a taste?  HD subscribers can watch Threshold on Universal HD on Saturdays where all the sciencey, alien stuff looks particularly nifty.