TV
50 EW.COM SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
You’ve written and starred in
such beloved films and TV shows
asChuck & Buck,School of Rock,
andEnlightened.Whydidyou
choose to starve yourself for up to
39 days on national television?
When thefirst season ofSurvivor
aired in the summer of 2000,
that was the most excited I’ve ever
been about a TV series ever!This season the contestants
are split into a “David” tribe and
a “Goliath” tribe. You’re on the
Goliath tribe. How’d you feel about
that term being applied to you?
When I realized I was a Goliath,
Iwaslike,“Ohmygosh,I’ma
villain!” [In the Bible] David is the
underdog who has God on his
side. Goliath is the beast that has
to be defeated. You don’t want
to be the one who’s standing in
the way of the underdog winning.You competed on CBS’The Amaz-
ing Racetwice with your dad, Mel.
Which show is moredificult?
The Amazing Raceis much more
hectic. It’s like you’re always
panicking. AndSurvivor, it’s more
like just slowly dying on the vine.So what are the odds that you’ll
eventually achieve the golden
trifecta by also giving CBS’Big
Brotheratry?
The idea of living in a soundstage
in the Valley, that’s the one game
I’m not interested in. I’ve already
done that.He’s a
Survivor
Enlightenedco-creator and
actorMike White, 48,
is competing in season 37
of the CBS reality competi-
tion (premiering Sept. 26
at 8 p.m.).BY DALTON ROSSThe First
DATELaunches Sept. 14 |TIMEStreaming
NETWORKHulu
REVIEW BYKristen Baldwin @KristenGBaldwin
Lost in space: Sean Penn and Natascha McElhone’s new drama never quite jells
PLENTY OF PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO
see Sean Penn launched into
space, but onThe First—Hulu’sdrama about America’s inaugural mission to
Mars, created byHouse of Cards executive
producer Beau Willimon—the actor
remains largely earthbound. Penn plays
Tom Hagerty, an astronaut who is relieved
of his command after a one-two punch of
family trauma—his wife, Diane (Melissa
George), dies and his daughter Denise
(Anna Jacoby-Heron) develops a drug
addiction. When the initial launch goes hor-
ribly awry, Tom’s old boss (Natascha
McElhone) asks him to help save the Mars
mission before Congress cuts off funding.
Penn, sinewy with muscle and sporting a
hairstyle that can best be described as a
tricolor fright, gives an enthralling perfor-
mance as Hagerty, the kind of strong,
by-the-book guy you want leading souls into
the stratosphere. He’s also a loving dad,
and Penn’s scenes with Jacoby-Heron are
quietly emotional; you can feel the years of
unspoken pain vibrating beneath each ten-
tative interaction.
Episodes 1 and 2 are front-loaded with
Tom’s dilemma, his torn loyalties between
a job that consumes him and a daughter
who still needs him. So it’s disorienting
when the focus shifts abruptly in episode 3
to Tom’s fellow astronauts and their loved
ones, as they navigate the tense, emotional
preparations necessary for an extended
separation.The Firstdoes eventually come
back to Tom and Denise—episodes 1, 2,
and 5 are a stunning triptych of a family in
crisis—and the disparate parts of the story
have potential. Willimon’s future is a sleek
vision of high-tech eyeglasses and voice-
activated everything; the character of Kayla
(LisaGay Hamilton), a black, queer female
Army colonel, could be a series unto her-
self. The threads, however, never fully
entwine, and in the endThe First feels
much like Mars itself: cold, bumpy, and too
far away to touch.B–THE FIRST: PAUL SCHIRALDI/HULU; WHITE: ROBERT VOETS/CBS