"Crusoe" Review: Money Well Spent?

If I were to give an award for boldest choice of a new show, it would have to go to NBC for “Crusoe,” a retelling of the classic novel, “Robinson Crusoe.”

I probably would also have to give NBC the award for spending the most money on a show because it’s clear that “Crusoe” didn’t come cheap?

So was it money well spent?

Yes and no…

As a two-hour movie, it comes off pretty well. As a mini-series, it would be brilliant. But as a weekly series? I’m not quite sure…

When “Crusoe” opens we meet Robinson Crusoe (Phillip Winchester), the lone survivor of a ship washed up on a deserted island. His narration tells us that he has been on the island for a while, though we’re not told how long (My guess is a long while since he’s had plenty of time to devise all the gadgetry that helps him get around and do things like squeeze orange juice.). Through short flashbacks, we learn that Crusoe is married with children and he wants desperately to get back to them.

In the opening moments of the premiere, he sees what he thinks is his salvation, a small ship with a British flag. However, he soon learns the ship is full of pirates coming to the island looking for gold. After a chase scene where we see most of Crusoe’s clever booby traps in action, we meet Friday (Tongayi Chirisa), Crusoe’s native companion (Friday is the name Crusoe gave him because he can’t pronounce his real name.). Soon both men are cornered by the pirates who force Crusoe to help them navigate the island in search of the gold.

The remainder of the two-hour premiere follows Crusoe and Friday as they try to outsmart the pirates and possibly still find a way to get Crusoe back to England. Along the way, we are given little bursts of information about Crusoe’s wife, Susannah (Anna Walton); his father, James (Sean Bean), his mysterious benefactor Jeremiah (Sam Neill) and how he met Friday. But we do not see any flashbacks relating to how he got on the island (a future episode, no doubt).
To say the show looks gorgeous would be an understatement. The screener I watched had only temporary visual effects, but they were still stunning. The scenery is beautiful, and Crusoe’s gadgetry within that scenery is as beautiful as it is clever.

And there is story to back up the beauty. Though the search for the treasure gets a little tedious with the constant threatening of Crusoe’s life and an extended swordfight sequence between Crusoe and the only female member of the pirate’s crew, the two hours do keep you entertained and even in a little suspense from time to time.

Plus, Winchester is a great lead and Chirisa is even better. Crusoe and Friday have a great witty banter that’s fun to watch. And Sam Neill is perfectly cast as the mysterious Jeremiah that you just know is going to become very important later. I just wish they would stop introducing the flashbacks with that annoying narration. We’re smart enough to figure it out on our own without hearing some fluffy, unnecessary words.

The biggest problem with the show, however, is that this isn’t “Lost.” The moment Crusoe gets off the island the show is over. So in the meantime, we’re stuck with a show about the trauma of the week. How will Crusoe and Friday defeat the pirates? How will they handle the weather? How will they keep from being eaten by cannibals? It could get old really quick…

Of course, I used to think the same thing about “Lost”…

My biggest concern about the show before I saw it was how a period piece was going to work on network TV. But the truth is, this makes way more sense than trying to modernize it. The show’s biggest obstacle will instead be the one that faces all new shows…

Can it sustain the story? And in this case, I’m not sure “Crusoe” can. But part of me would really like to see it prove me wrong…

“Crusoe” premieres Friday, October 17th at 8 p.m. on NBC…

Photo Credit: Kelly Walsh/NBC