Stitchers Season 1 Episode 1 Review: A Stitch in Time
Samantha McAllister
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You'll never be able to look at a Chinese restaurant without wondering if there's a secret lab underneath it.
It's difficult to set up a complex storyline, but Stitchers Season 1 Episode 1 was able to achieve introducing our main characters and an out of this world plot which made the hour fly by.
Let's discuss tonight's exciting episode.
It was a pretty genius idea to throw us right into the stitcher program without explaining what a stitcher actually is. You can make up your own mind about the program and see how physically exhausting the whole thing can be.
Thankfully, they backtracked and introduced our main character Kirsten Clark, who is a genius with a condition called temporal dysplasia, which causes her not to have any perception of time. What's great about Kirsten is she doesn't give two hoots about her condition, and she clearly couldn't care less what other people think of her, which is utterly refreshing.
Of course, having a roommate is probably not the smartest thing for Kirsten to have considering she isn't really a people person. Her roommate Camille is equally as intelligent, and it's clear these two are extremely competitive, which makes for a lot of clashing. Camille was pretty ballsy trying to kick Kirsten out of the house, but even though the two of them don't like each other, I can see them having some type of friendship or camaraderie down the line.
Maggie Baptiste is easily my favorite character on the show. I love her no nonsense attitude and how she has no problem questioning Kirsten and trying to get answers out of her. Hearing the banter between Kirsten and Maggie was exciting, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more from these two. It's clear Maggie knows a lot about Kirsten, and I'm interested in getting a clearer picture on our main character.
Kirsten: how long have I been in this room?
Maggie: Answer the question.
Kirsten: I'm trying to. How long have I been in this room?
Maggie: Guess.
Kirsten: An hour?
Maggie: One minute. [smiling and leaning in] You really don't know, do you?
Kirsten: I have this condition, it's called temporal dysplasia. I have no time perception.
Maggie: I've read about this condition. I thought it was made up.
Kirsten: I wish, cause then you could unmake it up; it really sucks. I use memory, logic and math to approximate time difference, but I don't know what time feels like.
You can't have a new show without the possibility of a romantic relationship thrown in, and there was a ton of chemistry between Kirsten and Cameron. Even though I enjoy Kirsten, she can't continue to be a hardass and not let people in. Cameron may be the one to help her come out of her shell – he's smart, attractive and has sharp wit. You also got a better understanding of the entire stitcher's program thanks to Cameron's very precise explanation.
Kristen: Why is he here? Are you guys coroners?
Cameron: No. He's here to share his memories with us.
Kirsten: But he's dead.
Cameron: Hmm. Fun fact: After death, consciousness lingers for 30 seconds. After that, 10 minutes and the brain starts to degrade. If we get a sample in here fast enough, we can start a protocol that will slow down further deterioration for days.
Kirsten: Sample? You mean corpse?
Cameron: Tomato/Tamato.
Kirsten: You're getting this guys dead, deteriorating brain to talk to you? How?
Cameron: By inserting a living consciousness into those memories. We call it stitching.
Kirsten: That's impossible.
Cameron: Is that so, doctor I've never studied neuroscience unlike Cameron. The brain is a bioelectrical device with emphasis on electrical. Even after death the wiring, the synapses are all still in there, for a while anyway, and that means so are the memories, but it takes a living consciousness to access them and interpret them and that's where you come in.
While some would scoff at the premise behind the stitcher program, I was really impressed by the methods used. If you want to find out important information, but the person you need to question has recently died, going into their memories is going to give you the answers you need.
The main case involved a bomber and trying to find where he put two remaining bombs, and this is where the stitchers program comes into play. Kirsten was stitched into his memories, but things got dicey when she touched a woman in the memories and was able to get into deeper memories, as well as feel emotions for the first time. That was something Cameron wasn't expecting.
While Kirsten probably shouldn't have gone over Maggie's head, at least she was putting fourth way more effort to find the two bombs. Camille's integration into the program came into play near the end when she was able to help Kirsten find where one of the missing bombs would be, which led to the final bomb that was strapped to a man. Thankfully Kirsten remembered something in the bombers memories to disable the bomb.
In the end, Kirsten and Cameron were saved from being arrested thanks to Maggie, but she demanded they no longer go after the bad guys and stay put. Kirsten was having none of it and tried to leave. Maggie dropped the biggest bomb of the night when she let Kirsten in on a secret about the stitcher program – her father was one of the creators. Immediately Kirsten was back in.
The great thing about Stitchers is they have a cast of characters who are not only smart and witty, but they are also likable. The female characters are strong and intelligent, while the males aren't being written as moronic pigs – finally a show that has real people. I'm looking forward to seeing where they plan to go with the program, as well as learning more about each of the characters.
What did you think of "A Stitch in Time"? Do you want to hear more about Kirsten's father?
Samantha McAllister was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in November 2018.
