Drive, Mal, Drive!

One night, I was dragged to a movie called Serenity by a bunch of browncoats and fell in love with a universe. Some called it the Whedonverse. It was a movie based on a short lived series called Firefly. It was a show I scoffed at. How in the world could a cowboy show set in space be 1) any good and 2) any good?

I ate my words.

I loved the universe Whedon set up, the hard edge of the browncoats, proud even in their loss. I fell in love with them all and as I watched the 13 episodes of show that got made, I wished there would be more. I wanted more of Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash and the rest.

So I watched other shows I wanted to see those characters. The CSI episode where Wash was a released pedophile, Standoff where Zoe is the head of an elite group of negotiators, Lost (well, I watched Lost already) when Mal was a patsy in Kate's hands, The Unit where River showed her shallow side, Daybreak for Jayne, and now, Mal's latest - Drive.

My husband saw the press kit from Drive. He said it was the worst press kit he's ever seen Fox put out. When I asked him to play Drive off of the DVR, he shook his head, warning me that it would probably be disappointing.


I didn't care. Drive had Mal. Mad faced Mal. Calm, stony faced, full of anger Mal. And while I hesitate to say that this character, Tully, is very different from Malcolm Reynolds, I will say that I will take it!

Drive is the story of an illegal street race. Tully/Mal's wife was kidnapped so that he would be forced to participate in the race. Others participate as well, some by choice, some by circumstances, some by force. The first two episodes premiered Sunday night and I found myself liking the show for more reasons than Nathan Fillion.

I found that I liked other characters as well. Ugly Betty's Kevin Alejandro plays Winston Salazar, a more bad-ass version of his UB other half. He's funnier on Ugly Betty, although more poignant as the forgotten son of a wealthy Floridian. After breaking into his father's house, he meets his half brother, Sean, and convinces Sean to race with him when Sean realizes his father lied about having another family.


Melanie Lynskey's Wendy Patrakas is the frazzled housewife who is afraid of a possibly abusive husband. She is growing to be one of my favourite non-Nathan Fillion characters. She came in last after being stopped for driving a stolen vehicle (she has, for some unknown reason, been forced to participate in the illegal race and she does so without her husband's consent). It is, in actuality, her own vehicle, but her husband reported it stolen. What a jerk. Because she came in last, she was given a gun and told to eliminate another racer.

The other racer is in a group with two other ladies (ladies I assume are the refugees from Katrina based on the commercials - but I guess we will see tonight).

There is a husband/wife team, Rob and Ellie. Ellie has been keeping calls from the army from her solder husband and according to commercials for tonights episode, will cause her husband to go AWOL. What a witch with a B.

There is also John and Violet Trimble, a father/daughter team who seem to be doing the race of their own free will, although the father only has one year to live. Violet Trimble, played by Emma Stone, bares a painful resemblance to Lindsay Lohan, causing us to refer to her as Lindsay Lohain't. Yes, we're lame, but we like it.

I'm sure we will find out about the other characters. As an opening series, I wasn't turned away from it. It doesn't have the utter implausibility of Prison Break, the time slot it is taking up. It certainly doesn't film the sense of urgency the way Fox's 24 does. And while dialogue can come off as clunky and Tully's lack of sleep hallucinations of his wife is somewhat laughable, I do find that I want to keep up with the show. It had its moments (some of the race scenes were tense), but basically because I've stuck it out for worse shows, Drive stays on the DVR. So Drive, don't let me down. I would like to get to the finish line with you.