Review: Project Blue Book Season 1, Ep. 1

Back in the 1950s, just as the Cold War was really taking off, the United States of America was caught in a post-Roswell U.F.O. craze. People everywhere were seeing flying saucers, and the American government wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

Their response was Project Blue Book; a U.S. Air Force investigative unit tasked with investigating U.F.O. sightings. The new History Channel series of the same name uses actual Project Blue Book cases as the springboard for a labyrinthian mythology about an alleged government cover up involving aliens on Earth.

Wow. Wordy as fuck!

In short, this is The X-Files told in a historical context.

Shawn, our resident alien/U.F.O. enthusiast (I dig this shit a lot too) wasn't blown away by the first episode, saying he dozed off. I was more engaged by this pilot episode. It's well made and acted, and sets the stage for, what I assume, is some pretty cool shit to come.

I could've done without the whole conspiracy angle. I had enough of that after The X-Files, and would have enjoyed a series that simply retold the Project Blue Book cases. Aidan Gillen's J. Allen Hynek is a real person, who became a leading U.F.O. investigator. His story should be interesting enough without bogging it down in fiction.

But, episodic TV is on the outs, and audiences want an ongoing arc. Given the subject matter, this is an easy arc to go with. Hopefully they take it in a new direction, and possibly delve into the Men In Black phenomenon as well.

Four episodes have been shot so far, and I'm committed to seeing them all. The pilot's a Good, and I want to see what comes next.

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