Threshold 1.4: "The Burning"

Written by Brannon Braga and Dan O’Shannon
Directed by John Showalter

In which the escape of a mental patient triggers a search that reveals the possible existence of the alien signal long before it was supposed to exist…


After the last episode, I was a little concerned about how the concept for the series would evolve. This episode actually covered some of those concerns while bringing up a number of new ones. There’s still something of a consistency to the show, but some comments from the characters suggest that liberties could be taken in the future.

My main concern is this idea that the aliens are so advanced that they could simply violate the laws of physics at will. Now, to a certain extent, I recognize that this is a reasonable direction for the concept to take. These beings are dealing in higher-dimensional physics, and that cannot be accurately predicted. However, when the Threshold team makes a bold announcement of what they’ve discovered, effectively setting the ground rules, the writers shouldn’t break those rules casually.

My concern is something that Caffrey suggested early in the episode. In short, she was questioning whether or not they could be sure that the signal has a limited range. If that concept is tossed out the window, then it undermines the central premise. In essence, any contingency plan would be meaningless, because in the end, one cannot prevent what one cannot predict.

For instance, why wasn’t the young woman tied up right next to the 100-year old probe affected by the signal? I didn’t buy that for a second. Other than the fact that she looked rather fetching in her tight T-shirt and panties, what was the reason for keeping her alive, if not to expose her to the signal as well? Was it simply to put somebody cute in jeopardy to generate audience sympathy?

On the subject of what the writers did effectively, I thought the mystery itself was rather well executed and the idea of probes being sent to Earth a long, long time ago may explain why so many people were responding to the signal in the second half of the premiere. In fact, it may be that certain people are more susceptible to the signal because their ancestors were exposed to a weak version of the signal after the probes arrived.

It was good to see the team conducting a logical investigation, though I’m still not certain why the one person intimate with the Threshold protocol is constantly in harm’s way. The writers even have the characters address this in a vague manner right at the beginning, but the question remains. The characters continue to explore issues of civil rights during emergency situations and impingement on their own private lives, but not enough to be truly satisfying as yet. I personally found the whole issue of the wedding invitations to be silly.

This wouldn’t be an episode of “Threshold” without some glamour shot of Carla Gugino looking like she’s going out on the prowl, and the end of this episode doesn’t disappoint. I’m also pleased with the idea that this is a situation rapidly widening in scope, bringing up the obvious question: can the Threshold team really do anything to stop what’s coming? How can they, when they don’t even know the true scope of the situation? I expect that this concern will continue to crop up as more elements of the “invasion” are unearthed.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10