Containment – Pilot

By: Caitlin Walsh

There was no beating around the bush. The first episode of Julie Plec’s latest CW project “Containment” dove headfirst into the narrative, with an opening of “Day 13” showing purely gross and hysteric chaos on the streets of Atlanta. As people scream, cry and fight on the streets, they are overstepping dead bodies and shoving very much alive ones around. The National Guard has been called in and their panic evident eyes are shown as the first shot. It’s gripping. And we’re only one minute in.

After the opening credits, the show takes us back to “Day 1” to slow down the pace, if only a bit. We’re introduced to a smattering of characters that are loosely intertwined. Major Alex Carnahan (David Gyasi), with the help of his fellow police officer and friend Jake Riley (Chris Wood), is trying to get his girlfriend Jana Mayfield (Christina Marie Moses) and coincidentally Jake’s ex-girlfriend–to move in with him. She’s packed, she’s almost there–but anxiety is gripping her and from the conversations that continue throughout the episode, she seems to struggle with anxiety and commitment issues frequently. It seems this was a contributor to the demise of her and Jake (for whatever reason that connection has been made). When Alex and Jake are called to duty minutes after conceding that Jana isn’t moving in that day, we’ve moved on.

At Atlanta Midtown Hospital, Dr. Sanders (Elyse Levesque) is experiencing what may be the most disgusting and one of the fastest progressing viruses anyone has seen. We’re talking full on yellow eyes, mucus everywhere and blood…well, everywhere. It’s not pretty and we as the audience obviously know how catastrophic and fatal this is going to be. It feels like a very early prequel to “The Walking Dead,” in some ways.

Katie Frank (Kristen Gutoskie) is a teacher who is bringing her small, surprisingly well behaved elementary school class to the hospital for a field trip. (Of all days, right?) They came to sing and perform for patients, apparently. We only get a brief glimpse and mention of what they’re actually doing there, but Quentin (Zachary Unger), who turns out to be Katie’s son, wanders off with company multiple times to see the lab rats, which I have a feeling will come back as something significant. Just wait.

Pregnant teenager Teresa Keaton (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) is doing her best to worm her way out from under her mother’s thumb–who is trying to make her put her baby up for adoption, against the wishes of Teresa and her boyfriend/father of the baby Xander (Demetrius Bridges). The plan? Run away together. But by the time Teresa makes it to the subway station with her suitcase in tow, the station is being shut down and the city put on quarantine. This makes her meeting Xander an impossibility, at least for the foreseeable future–something we could have guessed as we first saw her screaming for help in the streets, alone, in the flash forward to “Day 13.” At the end of “Day 1;” however, she’d made it back to her mother’s restaurant sans Xander, who has become trapped in the sector of the city under gated and police enforced quarantine.

Sabine Lommers (Claudia Black) is established as a high ranking official within the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the woman who is calling the shots. She carries an air of authority and confidence and she has no time for messing around or arguing, for that matter. Her mind is made up about every move and when she looks to Alex for assistance, as he is a trusted voice in the community, he pushes back. He wants no part of anything less than honesty with the people of the city. It’s unclear at this point how much we can trust Sabine, but she is clear about the risks of…well, everything. Patient Zero is an undocumented Syrian man and there are concerns of bioterrorism once the virus has begun spreading. There are questions upon questions and not many solutions at this point. Sabine, at the very least, seems determined to be quick to find them. She seems, if nothing else, efficient. Commanding. It’s just a matter of trust that I’m not quite sure about, yet.

Jake, in the meantime, had been sent to the home they traced Patient Zero Sayid (Ronny Mathew) to in the hopes of dragging Sayid back to the hospital, as well as anyone who had been in contact with him. It goes off not without a hitch, of course. Minute by minute, the situation becomes more panicked. Sayid, at the very least, is taken back to the hospital where later he, and everyone else exposed thus far, dies after experiencing severe symptoms that resemble rabies. Jake, at one point, tells Alex it’s like the “zombie apocalypse.” At this point, I don’t know which I’d prefer.

While at the hospital, Jake encounters Katie on her search for Quentin, who has run off again though they’ve been ordered on a 48 hour lockdown at the hospital, all the children included. Within a few minutes, Jake goes from being annoyed by Katie to…something else, certainly. Being the romantic I just might be, I’m not entirely mad about the shared glances and kinship the two seem to form, despite it feeling rushed.

Note: Mostly everything, to a point, felt rushed. But it’s a miniseries, and for that reason, we can’t beat around the bush. Almost all of the rushing was at least done well. I’d rather skip the tutorial and get moving, you know?

After conferring with other officials and doctors at the hospital and the CDC, including Dr. Victor Cannerts (George Young) who confirms it is, in fact, fatal and they have little to no clue what the hell it is–Sabine makes the announcement that the city will be placed on lockdown and quarantine or “cordone” effective immediately. She promises during the press conference to the general public later that this has proven an effective method in Sierra Leone, for example, with Ebola and everything will be fine. Alex promises the people gated and frantic that everything will be fine. The more promises are made that things will be fine, the less and less sure I am that it will be.

Overall, it’s gripping. In many ways, it feels very prequel “The Walking Dead”-esque, which isn’t entirely a bad thing. I just hope they can define themselves separately. The politics of it will hopefully continue to be explored and the potential of bioterrorism at play brings a unique storyline into play, at least by CW standards. Make no mistake, “Containment” clearly doesn’t intend to slow its pacing and the storytelling will be graphic. I’m not sensing happy stories. Julie Plec hasn’t been known for happy stories, of course, but her most popular hits like “The Vampire Diaries” and successful spinoff “The Originals” were geared toward teenagers and young adults, fantasy driven and nearly over the top (sometimes well over, let’s be honest) dramatic.

“Containment” feels much more adult, much more concentrated and I’m here for it. I have too many questions not to be.

Stick with me. I have a good feeling about this one.