What's it about?
Welcome to 1963: a time when only a lucky few could take flight, experience a global adventure or gain a front-row seat to history. Those lucky few flew Pan Am, the largest, most prestigious airline in the world. More than Coca-Cola, Elvis Presley or the transistor, Pan Am exported American culture to the world abroad and brought that world back to American shores. Join our crew as they travel to intoxicating cities such as Paris, Berlin, Monte Carlo and Rome and bump into history along the way. Through their eyes we revisit an era nearly half a century ago.
So, how was it?
Now THIS is how to capitalize on the current 60s craze. Not with Don Draper look-alikes and death by stiletto heel (ahem, PLAYBOY CLUB), but by crafting an entirely different story and setting it within the confines of the same era. In Entertainment Weekly's Fall TV Preview issue, Jack Orman, creator of PAN AM, was quoted as saying, in response to the comparisons to MAD MEN, "Is The Good Wife comparable to House because they take place in this decade?" I scoffed when I first read this because when you're crafting a period piece, you choose to set it in a specific period, and they deliberately chose the 60s, so comparisons to other 60s-set shows are inevitable. However, in the same article, star Christina Ricci is also quoted as saying, "The only thing similar is the time period, and the fact that both shows are shot in very cinematic ways." Now, having seen the pilot, I agree with Ms. Ricci's assessment much more than Mr. Orman's. Of course parallels to MAD MEN will be drawn, but instead of simply cloning that show's DNA, as THE PLAYBOY CLUB did, the writers of PAN AM chose to cash in on 60s popularity by telling a new story in the same time period. And it's infinitely more successful than THE PLAYBOY CLUB's attempt.
The pilot was a veritable hodgepodge of styles and storylines, from high-flying fun to wistful romance to suspenseful spy drama to sibling rivalry to Marxist stewardesses to missing-person mystery. I understand why the writers chose to start the show off with this mixture -- in providing as many genres as possible, they hoped to attract as wide of an audience as possible. I'm worried that the scattered nature of the pilot will have been off-putting to some people, but I'm intrigued by the ambitious scope of it to see where it goes and watch it settle into its week-by-week groove. Eventually it will probably have to let some of these storylines go in favor of others, and I'll be interested to see which ones they choose to focus on.
Christina Ricci is terrific as always as Maggie, the experienced yet frazzled veteran stewardess. Margot Robbie is gorgeous as Laura, the small-town girl who runs away from home to join her sister in Pan Am and has since attracted unwanted attention. Kelli Garner is believably conflicted as Kate, Laura's jealous sister, and also a new recruit to the government whose job-on-the-side is to spy on high-profile passengers. Karine Vanasse is sophisticated yet lovelorn as the French stewardess Colette. None of these are the most incredibly unique or compellingly-drawn characters as of yet (we just got to know them), but at least they're not the offensive cardboard cutouts that populate THE PLAYBOY CLUB. I actually found myself interested in their stories, but maybe that was just because none of them were wearing bunny ears or stabbing mob bosses in the neck with their high heels.
Also, this show looks great. In just the first hour we visited America, Rome, Cuba, London and, of course, the skies. The uniforms are retro-chic and the planes are gorgeous. It is simultaneously fun and depressing to get to visit a time when air travel was new and exciting -- when the terminals were glossy, the planes were roomy, the stewardesses attentive, and the whole experience was "cool." I feel like the nostalgia quotient and the exotic locales combined with the light, soapy drama of the storylines will combine to make for an audience-catching show.
Rating:
*** Solid. I'm interested and will definitely keep watching.
An effective cash in on the 60s-mania by not being a direct copy of MAD MEN, this show has a little something for everybody. As of now it remains a bit scattered, but hopefully in time it will settle down and find its groove. In the meantime, I'll sit back and enjoy the flight (awful pun intended).
Take it away, Fellow Addicts! Did you like the scope of the pilot? Or did you find the myriad of plotlines distracting? Will you be flying with Pan Am again? Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!
(For a quick glance at the other pilots coming out, check out my Fall TV Preview.)
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