Tru Calling Episode 1.01, "Pilot" Directed by: Phillip Noyce Written by: Jon Harmon Feldman, Chad Hodge, Douglas Petrie Starring: Eliza Dushku (Tru Davies), Shawn Reeves (Harrison Davies), Jessica Collins (Meredith Davies), Heath Freeman (Cameron), A.J. Cook (Lindsay), Zach Galifianakis (Davis) Air date: 10/30/03

A mix of Early Edition, Sixth Days and Groundhog Day, Tru Calling is one of the new series being put out by FOX this coming Fall. It stars Eliza Dushku, well known for her role as the rebellious Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She plays Tru Davies, a woman with the mysterious ability to go back twenty four hours and relive the day.

The episode starts off with a young Tru attending her mother’s funeral, it is there we first learn that she can hear the dead talking, a hint at what’s to come in the future. Fast forward to the day of her college graduation where Tru is about to start her internship at the hospital, but later finds out that the grant is no longer available and ends up getting a job at the city morgue instead. On her first night working the graveyard shift, she suddenly hears someone crying out for help and decides to find out the source of the sound. Her investigation leads her to the body of a murder victim that was brought in earlier, and to her surprise the dead woman opens her eyes. Tru then finds herself in bed, experiencing the same events that have already taken place. She realizes that for whatever reason someone has given her a chance to change a person’s future, and without a moment to spare, she must determine how and why the murder happened in order to prevent it.

Not exactly a ground breaking idea, but admittedly Tru Calling does have the potential to be interesting. Unfortunately, I think the pilot gets too bogged down by the many elements the writers tried to cram into the short time frame. In addition to the main plot of Tru trying to stop the woman from getting killed, her troubled family, the secret romance with her former college professor, as well as her best friend Cameron who has a huge crush on her, are all featured prominently. The hour feels very much disjointed as the viewer is thrust into one situation after another, often without any explanation or background information. Hopefully these issues and relationships will be addressed and explored further in the future, but the lack of focus in this episode is apparent. The central story itself starts off plausibly, however it tries so hard to throw the audience off with twists and turns that it quickly degenerates into something you’d find in the soap opera digest.

Truthfully, I was never really impressed with Dushku’s performances in Buffy, at least not in the beginning. I thought her character was very two-dimensional with little depth, and the bad girl part was not exactly a difficult character to portray. My opinions did eventually change, especially after the episodes "This Year’s Girl" and "Who Are You", and later on in Angel’s "Five By Five" and "Sanctuary". With that said, I think this is a good opportunity to stretch Dushku as an actress. Overall, the acting was okay as most of the cast did not seem too comfortable in their respective roles yet, but I am hopeful that the comradery and chemistry will develop as time progresses.

Currently slotted on Thursday night against favorites such as Friends and Survivor, I would advise against growing too attached to this show. It certainly does not help with a lackluster start such as this one. I am willing to give the series a chance, but I would not be surprised if Tru Calling turns out to be a false alarm.

Episode Rating: 5 out of 10