Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

Airs on NBC, Thursdays at 10 PM EST

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars (after 4 episodes)

NBC’s Summer paranormal series The Listener is a Canadian import that the network picked up to fill up a place on the schedule during the months where viewership is light. So basically that tells you right off that they did not believe the series had hit potential and that they really just see it as a “filler” show. Still, after four episodes, it has proved mildly interesting and shown some potential if it can find a way to diverge from its formulaic approach.

The show follows paramedic Toby Logan (played by Craig Olejnik) who is a telepath and has tried to suppress his ability most of his life but ultimately decides that he can use it to help others. This unfortunately leads to the more trite, formulaic side of the series. Toby gets mental “flashes” from people in some sort of trouble which leads him to playing junior detective to investigate their problems and try to help them. He of course has regular run-ins with a female detective from the local precinct who is quite annoyed with him always sticking his nose in her business. Ultimately, though, he leads her down the right path to arrest the bad guy or help the person in trouble (or a combination of the two).

So basically, The Listener pretty much just gives us another “cop show with a twist” Prime Time entry. And because of this, I actually almost gave up on it early on, but the third episode added a few elements that convinced me to stick around. First, Toby decides to reveal his abilities to his EMS partner, who had been previously asking a lot of questions and wondering how Toby knew some of the things that he did. Also, this episode established that Toby’s mentor, a university professor, is also a telepath and that there are others out there like them as well. This introduces a possible “mythology” for the show and provides the creative team with alternative to the procedural-themed stories, and hopefully they will venture in that direction.

I’m not saying that I expect this show to become a more serialized drama like Lost or Heroes, I just would like to see more interesting stories than simple crime-of-the-week yarns. The procedural has been done to death, and simply adding a person with telepathic ability into that format just provides no interest for me. Exploring more about these people with heightened abilities and how they’ve learned to get along in the world could lead to some interesting stories, though.

The performances by the cast members have all been good to adequate so far. Craig Olejnik, with his piercing eyes, gives Toby Logan almost an otherworldly feel, though what’s up with his 60’s British Invasion haircut? Enis Esmer plays a decent second-fiddle as Toby’s partner Oz, and Lisa Marcos is sufficiently cranky as their oft-put-upon foil from the police department.

Ratings-wise, the show has done nothing to light up the Nielsens as it premiered with a 1.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just over five million viewers. While those numbers might be acceptable for NBC for a Summer entry, the show’s most recent 0.9 ratings performance could jeopardize its future on the network. If it does not improve those numbers, it could go the way of last year’s Summer series on NBC, Fear Itself, which got yanked after eight episodes. Still, the series has already aired all thirteen of its episodes internationally starting in March of this year and could live on in another venue if performed did well there.

Overall, The Listener has its moments, but it needs to rise above the formulaic procedural stories to become anything more than a derivative television knock-off. And the fact that this one is not a network product could give it the opportunity to live on and explore its potential, whether on NBC or another channel.

Go to TV.com for more info on The Listener including Episode guides and Cast bios

Watch episodes of The Listener Online for Free at Hulu.com