Nathan Fillion

Intrigue, speed and humor fuel a cryptic ’Drive’

No one is going to accuse Drive of standing still.

Part Amazing Race, part Alias, part The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, this new Fox entry is constructed for that part of the NASCAR nation that is prone to embrace conspiracies. Apparently, as long as there have been cars, there has been a secret, illegal, incredibly well-organized cross-country race. Many of the racers are in it for the $32 million prize, but others have been forced to compete by illegal means for reasons yet to be revealed.

Created by relative TV newcomer Ben Queen and the well-established Tim Minear (Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Wonderfalls), Sunday’s two-hour premiere does a solid job of introducing an intriguing, if not exactly convincing, story and some appealing actors. At the top of that list is Nathan Fillion, who imbues his racer with that same mix of studly heroism, outright stubbornness and dry wit that endeared him to Firefly fans.

Fillion is Alex Tully, the most reluctant of racers, who has been told the contest is the key to finding his missing wife (Angel’s Amy Acker). Following orders from a secret cellphone, he heads off to meet the race "liaison," Mr. Bright (Charles Martin Smith).

Alex also meets a predictably mixed bag of fellow speedsters: Wendy (Melanie Lynskey) is a mother racing to save her newborn baby; John (Dylan Baker) is a scientist using the race to bond with his teenage daughter (Emma Stone). And Corinna (Kristin Lehman) is, well, we’re not sure who she is, other than Alex’s new partner. That list, of course, leaves out some of the most important cast members: dozens of cars, speeding in and out of traffic, on and off the road, via digital effects that no doubt will look more impressive on air than on the incomplete preview tape.

The larger problem for Drive may be that in a TV landscape studded with cloudy conspiracies, this is the cloudiest. It’s hard to imagine what the all-knowing race organizers could be after that would possibly justify such an elaborate scheme.

What Drive has going for it, aside from the cast, is the writers’ willingness to lighten the conspiracy load with humor. When Alex, who arrives late for the orientation, expresses doubts over the race’s existence, Mr. Bright balefully responds, "Without the PowerPoint presentation, it does seem a little far-fetched."

Well, yeah, and eventually the show is going to have to parcel out some answers along with its jokes and jolts. But we’ll cross that bridge when we drive to it.

For now, I’m willing to ride.