DOMINION: Hopes, Prayers, and Guilty Pleasures

Syfy’s new summer show “Dominion” is quickly becoming one of my guilty pleasures. The initial previews always sent a little shiver of anticipation up and down my spine, but I haven’t had a lot of luck with SyFy programming in the past – not that it’s terrible, but it can definitely be hit and miss for me. So when I went in for the pilot, I was half expecting to be disappointed. Needless to say, I am not disappointed. I am, in fact, quite intrigued thus far. Is it perfect? No, but there is enough meat on the bones to keep me salivating and the fact that it is still a fledgling show means that it has a lot of room for growth. In order to get the full scope of the world, I collected the first couple of episodes on my DVR until I was able to locate a copy of the movie that spawned the concept. Armed with all of the backstory I needed, I watched the first three episodes and the feature “Legion” in quick succession. I can honestly say that it was probably the best decision I made. Granted, I didn’t watch them in their true order…but I wanted to get a quick peek at the characters in the TV series before I judged them against their movie counterparts.

If I hadn’t been invested enough in the idea behind the show, the pilot might have left me a bit uncertain. There was a lot of information that was divulged and it would have been easy to dismiss some of the finer points of the intrigue between characters and the curiosity behind wanting to get to know them better. As I mentioned in my introductory post, sometimes I just need that one character to keep me fascinated until I fall in love with the rest of the world. In Dominion, that one character was Archangel Michael.

When I was trying to put together all the pieces of the puzzle, Tom Wisdom’s portrayal of this tormented protector of humankind made me anxious for his reappearance in each new scene. With Vega’s own resident Archangel, it quickly becomes apparent that, although he has been living among the humans for quite some time, he is still very separate from them. He struggles at times to understand the intricacies of relating to people on a personal level, but he is also tormented by the rather carnal nature of living with a human body. Michael has desires just like everyone else, but he seems to detest himself for it. Conflicted? Tortured? Aloof? Well, that’s a character I can get behind. Not only that, but it makes me eager to see the various different angels who may make an appearance. There are a quite a few yet to be explored. Personally, I’m eager to get a glimpse of Raphael, because he’s always been one of my favorites. In any case, consider that my nod to Tom Wisdom for breathing life into a character that hooked me within the first 10 minutes of the show. Bravo!

Tom Wisdom as Archangel Michael ~ Dominion Season 1: Episode 1 

Now, obviously I need more than one character to keep me entertained and so far Dominion has thrown enough my way to keep me wondering what is going to happen next. In the second episode, we got a good look at the relationship between Michael and Gabriel – which was pretty intense.  I can’t wait to see more interactions between the warring angel brothers. Gabriel has also set up a very Luciferian role by proclaiming his intent to bring the chosen one to him of his own free will. It was that sort of hubris that gave us the original division between the angels of heaven and the demons of hell. The only difference now is that they are waging that war overtly rather than covertly.

Meanwhile, the humans are continuing with their power plays and political intrigue. We’ve seen a lot of the upper echelon of Vega’s society and only a few glimpses of the lower castes. Hopefully, we will get a better look at the society as a whole, because there’s a lot between the V-2 and V-6 caste levels that has yet to be defined within the show. The creators have been kind enough to provide a “Citizen’s Handbook” on their show page, but only the most avid of fans will explore every chapter of that little endeavor. Currently they are giving out new chapters over time to garner more return traffic to their website - which may serve to keep people interested or cause them to lose interest. Either way, I’m hoping to see more of the lore in the handbook revealed in the actual series. By now, we should know why the humans possessed by lower angels are called Eight Balls, shouldn’t we? Unfortunately, it’s never really explained in the series, but the handbook discusses it. That might be my only major complaint. I like having different mediums to explore, because it’s gratifying to the uber-fans to discover little kernels of knowledge that the average viewers might miss, but some things you just shouldn’t have to hunt for.

Vega's Power Players ~ From left to right: Becca Thorn; Edward Riesen; and David Whele

One thing that comes up a lot when I discuss this show with others or read negative reactions is the question of God. People seem to expect God to just swoop in and save the day or end the war. Well, that wouldn’t really leave the show with much to work with now would it? Some of those people may be struggling with how to reconcile their faith with a show that changes how that faith is viewed in the Dominonverse. Well, here’s my take – and fair warning it may spoil some parts of the movie "Legion" if you haven’t yet seen it.

If you follow the lore set up by the original feature film, God wanted humanity wiped from the face of the planet. He sent his angels down from heaven to destroy what he considered his greatest mistake. Officially, Michael’s orders were to destroy the savior child as part of that grand plan. We all know how that turned out, Gabriel followed his orders and Michael chose not to – going so far as to descend to earth as a fallen angel. In the process, he lost his wings and was completely alone in protecting humanity against his own kind. Michael’s big on making sacrifices, when it comes to something he believes in – or believes against.

By the end of the film, Michael does manage to save the child, but in doing so he dies in his fallen form and is reborn in his angelic one. This seems to point to the idea that God realized Michael may have been right to protect his creation. As Michael says to Gabriel after returning in his angelic form, “you gave him what he wanted, I gave him what he needed.” Does this mean that God believes humanity is worth saving? I think it means that God is conflicted. He’s turned away from the war because it is no longer his fight. Humanity has been given a chance to redeem itself through the chosen one, but that fate is still in the hands of humanity. It wouldn’t truly be redemption if God stepped in and saved us from ourselves. If I were God, I’d pretty much sit back and watch everybody duke it out and then see who is left standing. Which begs the interesting question…will God ever make an appearance in Dominion? It would have to be something pretty drastic to get the absent father figure to come out of hiding, but it could happen. I mean Lucifer and his minions are out there somewhere as well…and they’ve been oddly silent in this war. Angels aside, there are a lot potential plot devices between the realms of heaven, hell, and earth that could present themselves. All we can do is hope for many seasons to come in this fun new summer drama. I know I’ll be tuning in religiously each week!