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Powers: Everything You Need to Know
How Powers Blazes a New Trail for PlayStation and More
Power's Cast on the Gritty New PlayStation Show
Pilot / 10 Mar 2015 4:23 PM PDT

Powers: "Pilot" Review

Fly right

It's been an interesting road getting Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oemings' Powers from comic page to screen. First shot as a pilot for FX in 2011, starring Jason Patric and Lucy Punch, the project stalled when execs weren't crazy about the final presentation. It hovered around there for a few more years, being retooled for clarity and tone, until Sony finally shifted it over to their PlayStation Network where it's become the platform's first ever original series.

The Powers' Cast on Living in a Superpowered World

Now with a new writer, new cast, and David Slade as the premiere's director, Powers is ready to take to the skies and come to life. I won't spend too long going over the premise of the Powers world in this review, nor will I spoil much of anything. And to those who're familiar with the comics, keep in mind that while most of the original characters remain, many of them have been revamped, shifted around, and tinkered with. As has the original gateway mystery. So you're not getting a straight replication of the books here.

But, of course, it's still about the brooding Christian Walker (Sharlto Copley) and petite hot-head Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) - two detectives in the LAPD's run-down Powers Division. Tasked with handling crimes committed by those with superpowers.


I'll have to give Powers a few more episodes before I get a clearer handle on whether or not the changes made, when compared to the original material, were done for the best (or just "done"). The one thing that sticks out the most to me in this rather exposition-heavy pilot is that the mystery surrounding Detective Christian Walker's old identity is gone. It's given away within the first few minutes thanks to an awkward and overstuffed celebrity beat report from Extra's Mario Lopez. So in this Powers world, Walker is experiencing a sort of "second act fame" as a police detective who used to be a superhero. Everyone knows about him being "Diamond" and his past adventures with alpha-hero Retro Girl (Michelle Forbes). In fact, it's the exact reason why Pilgrim wants to work with Walker. Which sort of robs the story of one of its original hooks.

Even though NBC's Heroes is returning this year in miniseries form, Powers works really well as a "years later" look at what a world filled with superhuman abilities might look like. Where some super-charged folks are heroes, some are villains, and the rest are just...there. In the middle, living as a type of modern celeb-royalty. Some are dangerous, most are harmless, but a functioning system of checks and balances is almost non-existant (as destructive battles between "powers" often can erupt in the sky with no notice). Sharlto Copley and Susan Hayward as Walker and Pilgrim.

And so even though the Powers Division (which is poorly funded for some reason) does their best to wrangle evil-doers, the consensus is still that the best way to stop a supervillain is with a superhero. Let them take care of their own. Basically, treating them like they live on entirely different stratum of existence.

My main issue with the pilot is that it spends too much time hand-holding. Instead of letting things remain mysterious, you'll pretty much know everything there is to know about Walker, how he lost his powers, and his relationships to "assumed dead" teleporter Johnny Royalle (Noah Taylor) and "behind bars" Wolfe (Eddie Izzard) by the end of it. Walker himself, built to be a textbook closed-off case to crack, is now an open book. And so in that respect, the series did something I didn't expect. It opens up Walker so much - showing us how much he still longs to be a "power" - that Pilgrim comes off a bit unlikeable. The more sympathy we feel for him, the more her forwardness - which was endearing in the comics - makes her coarse.


I also miss the noir elements of the comics, here replaced with big, bright open spaces. Perhaps it's more "Los Angeles," but it also drains the show of a certain intensity. Part of this blue skies vibe are the "Powers Kids," society's new version of skaters, punks, and club kids. They hang around in outdoor clumps (or over at the "Powers Crib") and essentially do things and film things to try to gain an online following. Flirty Zora (Logan Browning) and desperate wannabe Calista (Olesya Rulin) are a part of this scene.


Despite some initial hiccups however, there's potential here. Even though the pilot is flat in parts, it lays the groundwork for what could turn out to be a solid mystery. Different from the comics, and on the nose at times (Walker's asked "How does it feel?" at one point, leading directly into Orgy's cover of "Blue Monday"), but also not without its interesting elements and solid performances. Izzard's Wolfe, in particular, has a notably nasty incarceration scene toward the end that handily shows you just how savage and potentially dangerous his character is. Likewise, Rulin's remodeled Retro Girl-superfan Calista meshes well with Walker, from a "wants to have powers/used to have powers" standpoint.


Given that Powers is an R-rated superhero series, I feel like the first episode got caught up too much in exposition. Because if it's meant for adults (plus fans of the comic, savvy gamers, etc) someone's assuming that we need to be spoon-fed a bit more than necessary. If there's one thing most of us will totally and readily accept at this point, right up front and outright, it's a word filled with superpowers. So I felt like more could have been held back actually. Especially as it pertained to Walker himself. As it stood, everything needed to be explained to someone else for our (presumed) benefit.

Still though. It's an intriguing, gripping world that's presented. Like that of old westerns that had old, well meaning-but-outmatched sheriffs trying to keep the peace in an untamable land of outlaws. A fascinating "What If?" scenario, looking at a society that's decades into a massive evolutionary flip. And Copley works out well as Walker. Heyward also embodies the young, plucky spirit of Pilgrim, though I hope the show soon uses her as more than a device to draw out Walker's past.