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The Flight Attendant S1 Ep 1:In Case Of Emergency
The Flight Attendant Review: In Case of Emergency (Season 1 Episode 1)
Ladies and gentlemen, please buckle your seatbelts. The Flight Attendant Season 1 Episode 1, “In Case of Emergency,” has skipped taxiing and preparation and headed straight for the runway.
HBO Max surprised viewers with an early Thanksgiving present; the chance to stream the first episode for free before the series official launch on Thanksgiving Day. As far as teasers go, this is a big one, and it gives viewers just enough to draw them in.
The Flight Attendant is based on the book by Chris Bohjalian. The premiere episode “In Case of Emergency” was directed by Susanna Fogel and written by Steve Yockey.
“In Case of Emergency” introduces the audience to Cassandra “Cassie” Bowden (Kaley Cuoco), a flight attendant whose good at her job, but has something of a wild side. On an international flight to Bangkok, Cassie meets a man in the first-class cabin, and later goes out with him for a night on the town.
She wakes up in his hotel room to find him dead; and so our story begins.
“In Case of Emergency” sets up the crux of the story very well, making it an effective pilot episode.
It sells the audience on Cassie’s psychological state and leaves enough mystery to keep us coming back for more. As HBO Max’s first original release, this is absolutely necessary and a strong lead coming out of the gate.
One of the most interesting things about this series is the use of diptych and triptych frames to play with time. The episode starts out using this technique to show a passage of time showing Cassie in various cities across multiple continents, it also inverts the technique as Cassie attempts to evade the authorities in New York.
This effectively conveys her anxiety in that moment and establishes a motif that should continue throughout the series, in the same way 24 used a series of boxes to convey the locations of current characters between acts, or NCIS would briefly put up a black and white frame of where the act ends.
Cuoco delivers a strong performance playing a range of emotions throughout the 46-minute episode. Her banter with Megan (Rosie Perez) and the other flight attendants makes the episode enjoyable to watch.
The back-and-forth dialogue as the flight attendants watch Alex Sokolov (Michiel Huisman) flirt with Cassie, knowing full well how these encounters usually play out, feel natural and jovial all at the same time.
When Cassie wakes up to find Alex dead the mood changes. While elements of the fun-loving, wild-and-free, Cassie remain, the anxiety and flashbacks to her past enhance the nerves and anxiety she’s obviously feeling. The strong camera angels and transitions the Fogel uses in directing the episode, enhance these moments and make us feel connected to Cassie.
We’re invested in her from the get go. Yes, she’s a chaotic mess who likes to go out and party, but she pulls it together for work. She enjoys her job, and she enjoys having fun. Does she always make the best decisions: obviously not. That’s okay. That makes her a flawed heroine, and flawed heroines are always more interesting than perfect ones.
“In Case of Emergency” plays its cards close to the chest, being very careful to give viewers Cassie’s perspective only. We see her wake up, watch her process what’s happened, and witness her clean up the crime scene. We follow her back to the airport, see her attempt to get the air marshal drunk, and ultimately, attempt to flee the police.
Her moves follow an expectation for this kind of mystery, but this is a psychological thriller, not just a game of chase.
The Flight Attendant brings those psychological elements with Alex’s “ghost.” To be real, he’s really just a way for Cassie to process what happened, but having her talk to the man she supposedly murdered is a lot more interesting to watch than someone muttering in a corner alone.
It’s also disturbing and creepy, but the show hangs a lantern on it as Cassie calls out what could be seen as strange behavior.
The internal dialogue feels reminiscent of a Gothic horror like Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and I expect we’ll see more of that type of dialogue as Cassie attempts to untangle the Gordian knot that is is the missing night.
However, it’s not completely segregated to the hotel room and Alex, Cassie’s observations of photographs moving is evidence that this trauma will bleed through.
While “In Case of Emergency” is primarily concerned with setting up Cassie’s situation, it also gives us plenty of nuggets to grab onto that make us want to tune in next week.
Ani (Zosia Mamet) in particular, makes only a few appearances via a phone call and a split screen, but her character has a few moments that are very promising. (Who was that man with the bloody knuckles?)
Davey (T.R. Knight) is another character who only appears through phone calls as Cassie’s brother Davey. However, their banter and the set-up of Davey’s visit, appears to be setting up for some tense moments between the siblings as Cassie’s world continues to unravel.
Let’s not forget Miranda (Michelle Gomez) is set up to be the linchpin of the mystery behind Alex Sokolov’s work, and why he may have been killed. The decision to introduce her character through her voice only, and cut screens builds the mystery for what’s ahead. We don’t know Miranda’s role in what happened that night, yet, but Cassie and Alex are going to find out.
As far as premiere episodes go, The Flight Attendant comes out strong. Cassie’s story is expected to hit some turbulence, the only question is will the series itself falter.
What did you think of this episode of The Flight Attendant? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Flight Attendant officially premieres Thursday, November 26th on HBO Max.
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