Fox's The Passage has no idea what it wants to be

The A.V. Club

"It’s a dull political thriller, predictable procedural, and an even worse horror show, and its attempts at humor feel out of whack with the overwhelmingly self-serious tone of everything else," says Kyle Fowle. "On top of all that, there’s hardly a single actor that can convey an emotion beyond being gruff. That’s not necessarily the fault of the actors, because the writing is atrocious."

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• The Passage is hokey yet mildly entertaining: "It’s got a pulse and you can sharpen a fang to it"
• The show isn't yet able to convey the yawning horror the book so effectively evoke
• Saniyya Sidney is the true star, despite Mark-Paul Gosselaar's top billing
• The Passage is doomed by its unwillingness to commit to its own darkness
• The result is disappointing, but Fox deserves credit for at least trying for a big swing by adapting this unadaptable book
• The Passage author Justin Cronin warns that changes from the book to TV were unavoidable