For Hank Galliston (played by Anthony Edwards) his life is great with being the publisher of the Modern Skeptic Magazine and married to Laila (played by Jacinda Barrett) the woman he loves more than anything. Nothing seems like it can go wrong but it’s at this moment when Hank’s world falls apart when he gets a phone call from Laila as someone breaks into her clock shop and abducts her. With his wife in the hands of one of the FBI’s most wanted, Hank has to find out why she was taken by the man known only as White Vincent (played by Michael Nyqvist). Getting the help from two of the magazines reporters, Hank discovers what looks like a treasure map written in a long dead language pointing to a frozen landscape. Fearing the worst, Hank goes on the hunt for his wife but he begins to realize that he’s involved in something that could change not only history but the world itself.

PILOT EPISODE:
I was impressed with the way Zero Hour opens with being set during WWII as some sinister plot set by the Nazis unfold. What they are after is what sets up the real plot of the show, what they are after. Ok, I don’t know what they are after, it’s something that the Nazis want though and it was something that was kept secret by some secret religious group. Nothing is really shown during this part other than to let the viewer know that there is something really important and possibly end of the world if in the wrong hands is now being sought by the people with the wrong hands. Skipping to the present we meet the main characters of Hank, his wife Laila, and the two reporters Rachel (played by Addison Timlin) and Arron (Scott Michael Foster).

The plot line picks up the pace with the kidnapping of Laila into having Hank going on a unknown treasure hunt. It’s not a new idea, it’s been used many times in movies, tv shows, books, and bunch of other mediums but it’s also one that can be a lot of fun. As soon as I saw the opening, which has some good set dressings and looks pretty believable for the year it’s supposed to be set in, I already figured that the show was going to be about some mystery that occurred during the war.

So, the show is a mystery/suspense where it looks like each week would be Hank discovering a new clue or is given one by White Vincent or from another source with ties to the past. Once he finds that clue the show probably will end with him learning something that will lead into the next episode. Which is fine but it’s got to be handle gently otherwise this show canbecome boring with the same format, especially if no real answer is given as to what the mystery item is, why it’s a mystery, and why someone would kill for it.

As for this pilot episode it was ok, not the greatest but also just interesting enough that I would be intrigued in watching the following episode to see what would happen next. What makes it just ok was the acting performance of Anthony Edwards. I’ve seen him other shows before, in fact he’s in one of my top 3 favorite shows, but in Zero Hour his acting is stale. For a man who gets a phone call from his wife as she is being attacked and then kidnapped, he just don’t seem too distraught. I wasn’t expecting him to be playing a man who is crying on the couch as he begs the cops to do something, that would be boring, more realistic, but boring for a television show. However, Edwards gives a performance of a man who seems to want to be worried about his wife but seems to be more interested in solving the puzzle of why it was his wife that was kidnapped. The supporting actors playing the reporters do a better job in displaying their characters moods than Anthony Edwards does with his.

Still though, the show was entertaining because it made me want to know what’s going on and why it’s happening. There’s a lot of little subplots going on with the mystery and why it’s been one for so long. If Anthony Edwards would put a little more life into his character this show could be a fun one to watch. It has the potential of being one of those shows that makes you want to watch the next episode as well getting you involved with the plot as you try to figure out what’s going on. The flip side of the coin is that if written with the same outline where no answer is given the show could become tiresome and old pretty quickly. As it stands, the pilot episode has me interested enough to watch the second episode.