The CW has sustained itself, and flourished of late, by sticking to its series genre playbook: lots of good-looking young people written into a teen-angsty, sci-fi setting.
“Star-Crossed” doesn’t stray far from that formula, offering a twist on the familiar “ET” alien-out-of-water scenario. It will, I think, appeal to the network’s core audience of younger viewers with its moody vibe and opposites-attract motif, a “Romeo & Juliet” for the under-twenty set (hopefully with a better ending for its two protagonists).
The “ET” twist here involves the Atrians, aliens from another world who crash-land on present-day Earth outside of Baton Rouge in their ginormous space ship. The Atrians, who speak a different language, are otherwise indistinguishable from humans, save for unidentifiable facial and neck tattoos. They come in peace, but are forced to retaliate upon their unceremonious arrival when they’re immediately attacked (and many of them killed) by alarmed and armed military personnel.
One of them, 6-year-old Roman, escapes the initial carnage and takes refuge in a garage, where he’s befriended — a la “ET” — by 6-year-old Emery “Em” Whitehill. She feeds him cold spaghetti and is very kind, but Roman is soon discovered by the evil military guys, shot in the stomach and left for dead.
Fast-forward 10 years. Em (Aimee Teegarden from “Friday Night Lights”) is now all grown up and entering high school after spending her last four years in a hospital, battling an “immune deficiency.” The surviving Atrians, meanwhile — crowded into a heavily guarded “sector,” which looks more like a Middle Eastern bazaar (surrounded by chain-link fencing) — are slowly being introduced into society, to the outrage of many in the Baton Rouge area. (There are parallels to the often-hostile integrated busing incidents of the ’70s, of which the show’s target audience is likely too young to remember.)
This “re-integration” program includes seven high-school-age Atrians (dubbed “The Atrian Seven”) who are enrolled in Marshall High School. And, wouldn’t you know it, one of the “Atrian Seven” is . . . wait for it . . . the very same Roman (Matt Lanter), who survived his gunshot wound (“One of my hearts stopped beating for a few minutes — luckily I had a backup,” he explains). Once he and the comely Em set eyes on each other they’re smitten (again) — much to the anger of both the Atrians and Em’s human friends. And that, in a nutshell, sets up the premise of “Star-Crossed.” (There’s also a subplot involving Em’s dad, the Atrian sector’s security chief, and Roman’s dad, who’s a leading Atrian activist/advocate.) The show’s “live and let live” mantra is hammered home throughout, so you hope at least a bit of that gets through.
This being a CW series, the high-school kids — including the requisite bullies and (the rich) mean girl — all look like they’re in their late 20s, are all in great physical shape and are all (gasp!) acne-free. Their school is pretty cool, too, with plenty of liquid-crystal display monitors sprinkled throughout (including in the cafeteria, which looks like something out of “The Jetsons”).
All in all, “Star-Crossed” tries hard to differentiate itself, at least in its plotline, from its network stablemates.
And in the CW’s world of homogenized TV, that’s enough of a reason to applaud the effort.