TV Review: 'Emergence' Is ABC's More Methodical Answer to a Stranger Series

The mystery kid with strange abilities is a well-worn storytelling trope. ABC's new series, "Emergence," adds another to the long list of films and TV shows featuring gifted kids hiding from bad people with bad intentions. But where it could succumb to hackneyed cliches, this mystery drama is anchored by the emotional strength of its lead, Allison Tolman.
Tolman stars as Jo Evans, police chief in the small, seaside town of Southold. The town's peace is disrupted in the middle of the night when a plane crashes on the beach, killing everyone on board except one young girl who has no memory of the event and not so much as a bruise. It isn't long before people identifying themselves as government agents show up looking for the girl. Determined to keep her safe, Jo takes the kid home and they settle on the name Piper, at least for the time being.
Allison Tolman has appeared on a number of shows over the past several years. But it was her role as Molly Solverson in the first season of "Fargo" that turned her into a star and an Emmy nominee. As Jo in "Emergence," she brings along some of the same earnest fortitude that made her so great as Molly, and adds a level of the maturity that comes naturally with age and life experience. Jo is generally confident in her job and is a good mother to her daughter (Ashley Aufderheide), and daughter to her father (Clancy Brown). Though she is separated from her husband, Alex (Donald Faison), she does her best to hold everything and everyone together.

Tolman really is the beating heart of this show that also centers on young Piper (Alexa Swinton). In the pilot episode, the girl comes across as a milder version of Eleven from "Stranger Things." She is terrified and confused, but knows that she has found safety in Jo. Swinton is sweet and we can only hope that her character will develop into something at least a little unique. Piper checks so many of the same boxes as Eleven—apparent telekinetic abilities, bad guys chasing her, possibly an orphan—that this could easily lose the audience.
But where that other series relies on 80s nostalgia, monsters, and Big Bad Russians, "Emergence"—at least for now—seems more interested in the toll this kind of circumstance can take not only on a child, but on a family of bystanders who simply choose to help. Much like "Lost," which began with a plane crash on a beach exactly 15 years ago, this show can succeed if it focuses more on the emotional experience than on the thrills and intrigue.
After just one episode, "Emergence" is intriguing enough to leave us wanting more. The question now becomes, how long will we be willing to stick around? Is there enough substance to this story to keep it running for five to six seasons? As we move past the era of "appointment TV," do today's audiences have enough of an attention span to accept a mystery that extends several years? Or will the shifting landscape send us searching for the remote?
As long as Allison Tolman is leading the way, we'll give this one a fair shot.
"Emergence" airs on Tuesday nights on ABC.

GRADE: (★★★)

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