I am – Hercules!! It’s a drama, from screenwriter David DiGilio (“Eight Below”), about twentysomething Yale grad students who find themselves framed for a New York museum bombing – sort of - by someone they believed to be their friend and classmate. Suffice it to say these characters don’t do what I would do – and, I suspect, what many others might do - given the same predicaments. The kids don’t seem Yale smart, the investigating feds don’t seem fed smart and there are about eight things in the show’s first hour that don’t make sense to me. Still, the pilot offers good pacing and compelling twists, and the perceived tomfoolery did not tempt me to switch off the show between acts. (I could not say the same about the first few episodes of the goofier “Prison Break.”) Readers are hesitantly encouraged to tune in to “Traveler,” but they are warned to brace themselves for a rough road - one strewn with some long stretches of sketchy logic. But what matters Herc’s opinion? The Chicago Tribune says:

… I didn’t find “Traveler” to be a waste of time, though the characters are a bit bland, the dialogue verged on clunky at times, and you have to wonder about two Yale grads (played by Matthew Bomer and Logan Marshall-Green) who can’t figure out that they should probably get new duds or at least trade clothes in an attempt to evade being captured by the authorities. But for fans of “Three Days of the Condor”-type action thrillers, “Traveler’s” first hour is certainly watchable stuff. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… It's all very tense and fun, underscored by sirens and ominous techno music, shot in that popular, over-caffeinated jumpiness that here at least makes sense, lighted up by the all-American good looks of Bomer and sulky rich-boyishness of Marshall-Green. But it's also undeniably disturbing, and not because someone was trying to destroy an art museum. In plots such as these, the biggest hump is why the innocent don't just go to the authorities — in this case, there is nothing to link the guys to the bombing except the Rollerblading, and any half-decent lawyer could get around that. But the characters are quickly convinced, and convincing in their belief, that there is no justice to be had for a suspect in the bombing of a New York institution.…

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… After the bomb blast, ABC's apparent lack of faith in "Traveler" becomes more understandable. The show is a serial with a dark theme, exactly like the many shows that flopped in the fall ("The Nine," "Vanished," "Kidnapped"). It's another excellent premise that might work well as a one-shot movie but feels like it may be grasping in its attempts to make it as an ongoing series. …

The Portland Oregonian says:

… just because your plot is almost entirely implausible, and your characters a bit on the threadbare side, and your frantic pace simultaneously familiar and grating, well, that doesn't mean a legion of viewers won't be out to get you.… Everyone's in on it. Don't trust anyone. Particularly a couple of Yalies with such bad judgment and a serious misapprehension of Jack Kerouac. The Yalies I know (not the least of them being Mrs. TV Columnist) would out-debate the FBI so quickly and thoroughly they would not only have to take back everything they said about terrorism, but also apologize for the tone of voice they used while saying it. And then take them out for an expensive dinner. They're really smart, is the thing. "Traveler," on the other hand, isn't.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says:

… The pilot's not bad, but it's not so intriguing that I'm itching to see the second episode. I suspect it will run out of gas long before it gets to its destination. …

The Boston Herald says:

Kids, don’t Rollerblade in an art museum. You’ll end up accused of terrorism, and how is that going to look on your next job application? … Trapped in an idiotic situation, the boys behave, naturally, like idiots. When agents finally apprehend Tyler after what seems to be the longest chase on a fire escape in TV history, Jay calls in a bomb threat. That’s a way to prove your innocence. As the cliche goes, it’s not the destination that counts, it’s the journey. “Traveler” is a road not worth taking.

Variety says:

… one of the better hours that the Alphabet network has unleashed in an otherwise-mediocre development season. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride that supplies a feast for the gut while leaving the brain mostly malnourished. You have to suspend an awful lot of disbelief to buy into this premise, and even at that the protagonists aren't nearly compelling enough to care a lot about. … Over the course of the ensuing 45 minutes in creator/co-exec producer David DiGilio's opening teleplay, we're treated to a series of unlikely events. The least-plausible scenario unfolds at every turn to keep the boys out of custody (trust me, noting this doesn't really spoil anything). But even at that, the element that's wholly confusing surrounds why a couple of guys on Rollerblades should be considered the chief suspects, anyway. If you were going to blow up a building, would you be sure to draw maximum attention to yourself by racing through your target of choice a minute before detonation?

10 p.m. Thursday. ABC.

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