Dermot Mulroney
Lance Gross
Rachael Taylor
Max Martini
Michael Beach

Created by:
Rand Ravich

2014
Action, Drama, Thriller
NBC
TV-14

At the beginning of its first episode, I thought that “Crisis” was on to something. It was taut and well-paced. However, once the kids are kidnapped and taken to another location, things start to stagnate and to look and sound familiar. I thought, “This is like CBS’s ‘Hostages’!” The only major differences are that a group of high school students is captured instead of a family and that the kidnappers want multiple things from the students’ parents instead of one thing from one parent.

Of course, nothing is as it seems. For instance, the father, played by Dermot Mulroney, is revealed as the supposed mastermind (we’ll see how long that lasts). But the writing is uninspired, and, just as with “Hostages,” the question is: How long can they keep this going without things stalling or becoming completely ridiculous?

Some of the actors interest me (Mulroney, Gillian Anderson, and Michael Beach), but they need better material than what has been offered so far. I’ll check-out the next episode, but I don’t expect “Crisis” to keep my attention for long. …

Just like its first episode, the second episode of “Crisis” begins fairly well, then loses steam (and my interest right along with it). I just don’t care about these people.

Verdict: OK to Somewhat Bad

About: (Source: crisis)

To bring the most powerful people in the world to their knees… threaten what they hold most dear.

It’s field trip day for the students of Ballard High, a school that educates the children of Washington, D.C.’s elite, top-of-their-industry CEOs, international diplomats, political power players, even the President’s son. But when their bus is ambushed on a secluded rural road, the teenagers and their chaperones are taken, igniting a national crisis.

Now, with some of the country’s most powerful parents at the mercy of one vengeful mastermind, the question arises: How far would you go and what would you become to ensure your child’s safe return? With so many parents and dignitaries put into play with nowhere to turn and no one to trust, the unthinkable grows from the select families at risk to an entire nation at stake.

“Crisis” stars Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”), Dermot Mulroney (“August: Osage County”), Lance Gross (“House of Payne”), Rachael Taylor (“666 Park Avenue”), James Lafferty (“One Tree Hill”), Max Martini (“Pacific Rim”), Halston Sage (“Neighbors”), Stevie Lynn Jones (“Runaways”), Max Schneider (“How to Rock”), Michael Beach (“Insidious: Chapter 2″) and Joshua Erenberg (“Suburgatory”).