REVIEWED: SEASON 1, EPISODES 1 – 3 | WHERE TO WATCH: NOWTV
In 1952 the United States Air Force began a study into reports of unidentified flying objects. The goals of the study were twofold: to determine if UFOs were a threat to national security and to scientifically analyse the UFO data. Under different names, the study ran until 1969 when it was closed down having gathered a reported 12,618 UFO related reports. The most renowned name of the study was Project Blue Book.
Let’s deal with the alien in the room from the outset; Project Blue Book is not The X-Files, nor is it an updated version of the Mulder and Scully dynamic. Yes, it’s about UFO investigations, and yes, there are two protagonists presenting a balance between a cynical, scientific approach and the data that suggests ‘something’ else is out there. But there is a little more to Project Blue Book.
Captain Michael Quinn (Malarkey) has been tasked by his scene-chewing superior General Harding (McDonough) to investigate and debunk, various close encounters. Wanting to add some academic credibility to the whole thing the Air Force calls in sometime collaborator Dr J. Allen Hynek (Gillen) to assist. As they interview and assess they question their initial opinions and prejudices.
Based largely on Hynek’s own real-life experiences and various ‘factual’ reports writer David O’Leary – who also appears – has created a stylish, slick and interesting take on a subject matter that has never lacked coverage in film and television. Given that subject matter, there is, of course, a little tongue in cheek dialogue and poetic licence, and like The X-Files, the show unashamedly revels in the well-trodden conspiracy theory path. Gillen and Malarkey are both convincingly sincere in their roles and are well supported by Laura Mennell as Hynek’s lonely wife and Ksenia Solo as her rather mysterious new friend. And McDonough is always watchable as the gruff, by-the-book general with little time for reports of flying saucers and little green men.
It is in the drama itself, however, that Project Blue Book impresses. This could so easily have been a slightly comedic, wink-at-the-audience kind of show but led by executive producer Robert Zemeckis the showrunners play it straight, presenting the reports with equal credence in fact and fiction, and with a visual flair that wholly engages you in the storytelling.
At the time of writing STARBURST has only been privy to the first couple of episodes, but if the standard of those is maintained throughout the season – and a second has already been greenlit – then Project Blue Book will be well worth your time seeking out. UFO shows will always draw in genre fans initially, but there is something mainstream, something confident about this new show that should elevate it beyond being simply the cult hit.
