Fox’s “The Passage” Is a Bloody Blend of Heart and Horror

Adapted from Justin Croninamp8217s bestselling novel The Passage the first book in a popular trilogy the series is led by showrunner and creator Liz Heldens Friday Night Lights who also serves as executive producer along with director Ridley Scott writerdirector Matt Reeves David W Zucker Jason Ensler and Adam Kassanamp160 The story follows Dr Lear Henry Ian Cusick of Lost another undeniably unique scifi drama that pushed the boundaries of broadcast television and Dr Tim Fanning Jamie McShane both in search of an urban legend that could lead them to the worldamp8217s greatest scientific discovery amp160A cure that could make humans impervious to all known diseases amp160Their mission is codenamed Project Noahamp160 When Fanning is attacked and turned into a glowingeyed bloodsucking vampire Lear and his team led by Dr Major Nichole Sykes Caroline Chikezie begin to experiment on death row inmates amp160As the world teeters on the brink of a global pandemic the CDC turns to Learamp8217s team for a cure and they reluctantly decide to begin trials on children that could unlock the answers they needBrad Wolgast MarkPaul Gosselaar is a hardened veteran and federal agent assigned by his former Special Ops partner Clark Richards Vincent Piazza to pick up Amy Bellafonte Saniyya Sidney pictured at top with Gosselaaramp160 She is a newly orphaned young girl with few if any friends that Project Noah has chosen as the child on whom they want to run tests amp160When Wolgast grows attached to her and sees much of his own daughter in her he goes rogue in order to protect Amyamp160 amp8220Itamp8217s going to be okay you understandamp8221 he tells heramp160 amp8220Iamp8217m not going to leave you amp160I promiseamp8221In her narration Amy says of that moment amp8220Of everything that happened this is the part I think of the most amp160Whatever was coming we would face it togetheramp8221One of the best narrative elements of The Passage is the bond shared between Brad and Amy the dynamic theyamp8217ve found themselves in as a guardian and child some would say as parent and child especially considering a grieving Brad is still heartbroken over losing his only daughteramp160 During a special sneak peek screening of the first two episodes of The Passage at New York Cityamp8217s NeueHouse MediaVillage spoke with Gosselaar about the powerful dynamic between Brad and Amyamp8220We had the luxury of creating our relationship in a linear fashion since all of our scenes were filmed sequentially so our character meeting was our first day of filming togetheramp8221 Gosselaar explained amp160amp8220That tentativeness she has with me thinking amp8216who the f are youamp8217 was very realamp8221 he laughed amp160amp8220I was initially drawn to the series because of the genre aspect because Iamp8217d never done a genre piece in my careeramp160 And then I saw that my characteramp8217s relationship with Amy was rooted in heart amp160The heart and soul of the show is what people can do for others and for love amp160Itamp8217s an interesting take as itamp8217s not just a straight genre piece amp160Thatamp8217s what drew me right off the batamp8221The frightfactor horror of the series is more an unsettling thrill considering network shows are limited as to how much carnage they can displayamp160 But that makes it a breath of fresh air in the otherwise supersaturated horror genre amp160We get our first jolt when one of the building custodians the jittery and selfkept Lawrence Jason Fuchs tells Dr Lear that heamp8217s seen the nowmonstrous Dr Fanning in his dreams amp160Though Lear assures him itamp8217s nothing itamp8217s obvious something is up when a romantic evening between Richards and Dr Sykes is interrupted by viral inmate Shauna Babcock Brianne Howey in what viewers quickly learn was all a dreamItamp8217s taken up a notch when a previral Project Noah volunteer encounters a terrifying Fanning who turns into a vampire before his very eyes until he wakes up from the dreamPsychic vampires amp160Count me inamp8220As the series progresses we delve into the backgrounds of all the charactersamp8221 Gosselaar said amp160amp8220We see why Carter was on death row how Babcock made it to Project Noah amp160We explore the friendship between Fanning and Lear the relationship between Sykes and Richards and then Wolgast and his exwife Lila played by Emmanuelle Chriqui and what happened to their daughter amp160We dig into all of thatamp8221MediaVillage also spoke with star Caroline Chikezie who plays Dr Major Nichole Sykesamp160 amp8220I canamp8217t wait until viewers see what Nichole is willing to do to make sure that Amy is safeamp8221 she saidamp160 amp8220Nichole is fearless and braveamp160 I love her because sheamp8217s a strong female and there arenamp8217t many roles where itamp8217s this badass strong smart woman who can take on the guys amp160Sheamp8217s gangsteramp8221While much of the adult cast shines I have to commend breakout star Saniyya Sidneyamp160 She plays the young heroine Amy with such gusto and strength and ferocity youamp8217d think you were watching a seasoned veteran and not a twelveyearold actor amp160It isnamp8217t just her fearlessness in the role but her ability to portray such emotional vulnerability and at times true devastation such as the impromptu memoriam she shares with Brad amp160Itamp8217s a starmaking quality performanceThe Passage so far has expertly blended characterdriven drama with pulsepounding action and added a muchneeded twist to the overpopulated horror genre by focusing on the characters their stories and their intentions all the while increasing the representation of strong women and people of color onscreenamp160 If viewers donamp8217t embrace it and the industry doesnamp8217t support it they have only themselves to blameThe Passage is telecast Mondays at 9 pm ET on FoxClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Fox’s “The Passage” Is a Bloody Blend of Heart and Horror

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Juan Ayala

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Fox’s “The Passage” Is a Bloody Blend of Heart and Horror

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