Tim
Minear's Drive
The
new FOX drama Drive revolves around the participants of an
illegal cross-country road race that offers a prize package of thirty-two
million dollars for the winner. This is no Amazing Race, however,
just as Lost turned out to be no Survivor: many of
the contestants are not in it for the money, but for personal motives.
There are, among others, the husband looking for his missing wife; the
dying father with a year left to live; two brothers, sons of a Miami
politician, who had never previously met; and a young mother trying
to run from an abusive spouse.
Co-created
and executive produced by television veteran Tim Minear, the series
is in the same vein as other shows he has worked on, most notably Angel,
Firefly and Wonderfalls. Although those series were,
respectively, about a vampire-with-a-soul, a group of space-scavengers
living 500 years in the future, and a Niagara Falls retail clerk who
suddenly hears voices from inanimate objects, at the core of each was
a deeper theme: namely, the search for redemption and meaning in a world
that at times seems meaningless. And in the case of Drive,
how far is one willing to go to achieve it?
Take Alex Tully
(Nathan Fillion), for instance, the husband forced into the race to
find his missing wife. A landscaper from Hastings, Nebraska, he receives
an anonymous call on a hidden cell phone telling him to drive to Key
West, Florida. Believing it has to do with his spouse, he leaps into
his pick up and takes off. Instead of finding his wife, however, he
receives vague insinuations, verbal and otherwise, hinting that the
only way he will ever see his beloved again is to compete in the mysterious
race.
Far-fetched?
A little, but that is one of the fascinating things about being a television
fan these days: watching series creators take simplistic ideas with
limited potential that border on the far-fetched—a plane crashes
on a deserted island (Lost), ordinary people suddenly find
themselves with supernatural powers (Heroes), and now an illegal
cross-country race—and find ways to sustain an intelligent, gripping
story. The island, it turns out, is no ordinary place and the castaways
all have secrets of their own; a mysterious organization is aware of
these new-found heroes and perform track-and-tag missions on them for
unknown reasons. And as for Drive, we find that the participants,
as well as their anonymous sponsors, have secrets and agendas beyond
merely winning (or rewarding) thirty-two million dollars.
As the episodes
progress, these “secret” pieces of the various characters’
lives slowly get revealed. In the case of Tully, in a surprise-twist
on par with any show on television, we discover that he once led the
life of a “wheel man” for a murderous cadre of bank robbers.
Here is a man, suddenly confronted by a treacherous past he thought
he had escaped, truly seeking redemption—not only is the life
of his missing wife in jeopardy, but so his own “new” life
of simple Nebraska landscaper. In order to win this race, will he need
to “become” the old Alex Tully, a formidable getaway driver
capable of breaking the law in order to succeed? Can he again leave
this past behind? Will he be able to save his wife without losing himself
in the process?
In this
sense, Drive is Angel without the vampires, Firefly
without the spaceships and Wonderfalls without the talking
wax lion. Angel (David Boreanaz), a vampire responsible for who-knows
how many deaths before being cursed with a soul, strives to make up
for those past sins by performing acts of penance while being all-too-aware
that his “dark” side is never far behind. Captain Malcolm
Reynolds (likewise portrayed by Fillion) of Firefly longs for
a simpler life away from the reaches of a controlling government that
he can never truly escape. And the “voices” from Wonderfalls
act as a conscious to Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas) in an attempt
to make her confront her own perpetual shortcomings.
Many of
the other character in Drive likewise have similarities with
the aforementioned characters, especially in regards to the search for
redemption in their lives. Wendy Patrakas (Melanie Lynskey) wants more
for her newly born son than her abusive marriage can provide. And Winston
Salazar (Kevin Alejandro) wants to escape his criminal past as well
as being the unwanted, illegitimate son of a politician father.
Astrophysicist
John Trimble (Dylan Baker), meanwhile, is trying to find meaning in
his existence besides the clinical research of his career. Told he has
only a year to live, he takes his teenage daughter (Emma Stone) on the
race in an effort to connect with her and experience life more fully.
This theme likewise resonates throughout Angel (deeper, meaningful
relationships is what having a soul is about, after all), Firefly
(it’s the close, family-like relationship of the crew on Serenity
that keeps them afloat) and Wonderfalls (Jaye is a perennial
loner suddenly forced to interact and get involved with the lives of
total strangers).
Drive
is no copycat, however, but simply a television series that offers a
little bit of everything: appealing characters on a symbolic journey
for meaning and redemption; a cross-country road-race capable of inducing
high-octane adrenaline rushes (never has watching people drive been
so much fun); intrigue and mystery filled with unexpected twists; and,
finally, great writing, for it would not be a Tim Minear series without
sharp dialogue that vacillates between dark humor and eloquent wit.
For example, when
Tully confronts the “face” of the race, liaison Mr. Bright
(Charles Martin Smith), about his kidnapped wife by threatening to call
the authorities, Bright responds, “Oh, I wouldn’t recommend
it. Involving the police would be grounds for immediate disqualification.”
Tully then threatens physical harm instead. “Beating me to death,”
replies Bright in the same matter-of-fact tone, “would also be
grounds for immediate disqualification.”
Firefly,
Wonderfalls and even Angel all met with “disqualification,”
canceled from the television landscape sooner than they deserved. Let’s
hope the same fate is not in the foreseeable future for Drive,
because this is one series that truly promises to be one hell of a ride.
(This article
orginally was published in Flak
Magazine.)
April 24,
2007
