Put simply: the writing isn't very good. The acting is fine, us geeks get our nice sci-fi kick, but the story, the character development, the dialog are all significantly below par. The whole season just flows like a cheap telenovela full of contrived and poorly developed situations.

I hope this gets a second season with a full team of new writers.

UPDATE season 2: rudderless.

UPDATE season 3: absolute nosedive. Do not watch past the first season.