‘Three Inches’ Pilot Review

Posted Friday, December 30th, 2011 01:00 pm GMT -5 by Michelle Ealey0

[Spoiler Alert: Plot is discussed in this review]

‘Three Inches’ was originally a pilot, but Syfy decided to pick up ‘Alphas’ instead of this superhero drama starring Noah Reid and James Marsters.

‘Three Inches’ is about Walter Spackman, a 26-year-old who moved back home because of financial troubles. He has bounced around from job to job and currently washes dogs. Also, he pines for a childhood friend, Lily. Walter finally has the courage to tell Lily how he really feels, but she rejects him, and it starts to rain. Heartbroken, Walter stays out in the storm and gets struck by lightning. Walter survives (this is logical; not all lightning strikes are fatal) and develops the ability to move objects three inches with his mind.

Walter wakes up in the hospital with ringing in his ears, which stops once he uses his ability to bring a drink closer to him. The next morning, Walter has a difficult time controlling his new power, so leaves before his mother notices anything odd. Walter meets Troy Hamilton (Marsters) in a bar; well, Troy probably made sure to be at the same bar as Walter. Troy is a private contractor who has a team of people with gifts, a team of superheroes. Walter thinks his power is lame, but Troy convinces him that his power can do marvelous things if Walter practices and trains.

While the training sequence is abbreviated, I do like how the show gives us superheroes with limits. Walter cannot use his ability over great distances, and he can only use it so many times in a row before he needs to rest and “recharge.” Troy has Walter focus on small tasks like unlocking locks; Walter thinks this is silly at first, but Troy is right—even superheroes need to get through locked doors. Reid and Marsters work well together. Reid’s Walter is a quirky, unfocused likeable guy who slowly realizes he might have found a purpose. Marsters plays Troy with a quiet and reserved authority; I can’t believe the man who gave us Spike is in a fatherly role, but he is, and Marsters injects Troy with warmth I did not expect, which is evident in the scene when Troy talks to Walter the night before the first mission. Although they talk via video, we see the two form a connection as Troy assures Walter that you don’t need to see the courage inside of you to know it’s there.

Their relationship continues to develop over the course of the mission. After getting more training from Brandon and bonding with the other team members, Walter joins the team on a mission to retrieve a package. To fund the group, Troy gets tasks from paying clients. The team’s missions are not always heroic; they can deliver a package or retrieve data. Their mission is to retrieve and deliver a package. Walter is surprised the package is a 10-year-old girl, Cassie, who is hunted by different groups for her ability. Walter defies Troy, goes rogue, rescues the girl, and reunites her with her sister. Walter and Troy argue, but after Cassie escapes, Troy reveals how proud of Walter he is because Walter did the right thing and gave him an excuse to feed the client. The moment near the end of the show, in Troy’s office, solidified their bond, forming a relationship that could have been the emotional core of the show.

Was ‘Three Inches’ unbearably awful? No. The pace of the show was quick, and the performances were solid. Marsters and Reid did a great job, as did the actors playing Brandon (Kyle Schmid), Watts (Stephanie Jacobsen), and Belinda Spackman (Andrea Martin). Belinda, Walter’s mom, became one of my favorites by delivering funny one-liners and providing levity at the right moments. Why do I think ‘Three Inches’ wasn’t picked up? The pilot is crowded. The team is large:

Troy: The ex-Army intelligence officer who investigated psychics, got so interested in people with gifts, leading him to form his own team.
Brandon: The field leader who is Troy’s son. He is a regular human who desires to have a power.
Watts: She alters people’s emotional states, making them feel happy or sad.
Annika: She can mimic sounds she hears, so she does perfect imitations of people.
Carlos: The Human Smell. He emits strong odors from his body.
Todd: He can see up to two minutes into the future.
Ethan: He communicates with insects.

When the team is in the field, there are seven members; at headquarters, Troy makes eight. ‘Three Inches’ is what I call a “Kitchen Sink Pilot,” a pilot that shoves as much in a limited time period as possible. If the team had three less members, then many scenes, especially the bonding over beers moment in the bar, would have been stronger. The pilot focused on Walter, Troy, Brandon, Carlos, and Watts, and they had good moments such as Carlos tricking Walter into wearing a costume his mother made, Brandon being a jerk to Walter out of jealousy, and Watts and Walter forming the beginnings of a friendship. To persuade Walter to stay with the team, Watts tells Walter her real name, a fact she has kept from the rest of the team.

The crowding is apparent during the warehouse sequence. The team goes through the warehouse together, pausing so members can demonstrate their abilities. Having a smaller team would have intensified the action while building team dynamics and letting us get to know the characters more. The smaller team sharing Walter’s responsibility for Cassie’s escape would have made the “I am Spartacus” scene near the end more poignant because we would have a better sense of everyone’s personalities.

Too many characters can distance an audience. I watch ‘The Secret Circle,’ and while I am a fan, I have to admit the show is packed; an episode can feature nine characters, and keeping up with that many people can be difficult, which is why I suspect many have not connected to the show. ‘Three Inches’ has a large cast, and some of the characters did not have many lines, so we really didn’t get an impression of who they were and who they could be. In comparison, ‘Alphas’ has six regular characters: Dr. Rosen, Gary, Cameron, Rachel, Nina, and Bill. By focusing on a team of six, the audience was able to connect with the team, which contributed to the show’s popularity.

Also, large casts equals large budgets. I imagine a Syfy executive counted how many actors would be needed each week for each show and did some math. In addition to the eight team members and the two girls who needed help, we were introduced to Walter’s mom Belinda, Walter’s best friend Mecklin, and Walter’s love interest, Lily. Since Walter lives with his mom, Mecklin got involved in the Cassie plot, and Walter kissed Lily at the end of the show, Belinda, Mecklin, and Lily were likely to return in upcoming episodes. With such a large cast, ‘Three Inches’ probably became less appealing to for Syfy to pick up.

The size of the cast is really the only flaw of ‘Three Inches’ I found. If the pilot had a smaller cast, then we could have seen how the others, such as Annika, Ethan, and Todd, encounter the team. Seeing how the team finds a man who can talk to insects is more compelling than hearing part of the story during a bar scene. Although I thought parts of ‘Three Inches’ were more interesting and endearing than ‘Alphas,’ I can understand why Syfy passed on this show and went with ‘Alphas’ instead.

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Karen

I loved “Three Inches” was very dissatisfied that the network decided to go with “Alphas” instead, which I have also watched. Matter of fact, I tried watching Alphas more than once thinking that it might just be a slow starter. But, “Three Inches” was very good, grabbed me from the beginning and left me wanting more. It is too bad that there isn’t a network willing to pick this winner up. I found the characters engaging not off beat like “Alphas” Loved the actors in “Three Inches”
Walker

I thought it had good promise. Of course, it would take about a season or so to iron out all the details and get everyone comfortable in their roles. Anybody know the name of the actress that played Lily?

http://michelleealey.blogspot.com/ Michelle Ealey

I don’t know who played Lily. I’ve looked, but haven’t found out.

I think the show had promise too.

Guest

the actress is Alona Tal.

Anonymous

She also plays Jo in supernatural

Gray

Enjoyed reading this review…As a viewer, I found the idea of too many characters not really a problem. In part, it might be what I do. I work with large numbers of people, interacting with many different individuals daily. In thinking about it, I do tend to favor shows with larger casts, more characters to discover and explore, with different perspectives through which to tell the stories. In my opinion, this particular cast did an exceptional job playing their characters. The thing that I noticed when watching Three Inches was how I learned just enough about each character to remember their unique ability and their names. That does not happen to me usually when watching a new show. I easily connected with everyone. They all seemed significant to me. I think I also started comparing and contrasting characters. There was the girl next door love interest to balance the new girl who could made a person happy or sad. There was Walter’s mother and Brandon’s father, each caring in his or her way, and two young men of roughly the same age missing a parent. There seemed to be three more quiet team members that held back and three more forceful, take charge types that stepped forward. And Walter was the one right in the middle of all this. When they were all in the warehouse sort of stumbling over each other, I was thinking that was kind of different. Usually a small, elite special task force goes in swiftly and efficiently takes care of business. But with this team, it takes each and every one of them to pull it off for they are still a little green and new to this entire ‘superhero’ routine, some maybe a bit awkward and clumsy…and, yes, it is a bit of a bunch, but therein lies their real strength and power, perhaps having more to do with attitude than behavior too. They will have to be there for each other, not just physically but emotionally. Alone their special ability is not great at all, but together it can be really something extraordinary. I really would have liked to have seen this show given a chance. It had some good potential.

http://michelleealey.blogspot.com/ Michelle Ealey

Yes, the cast did a great job, and I remember them. But suits care about bottom lines, and that was my point. Syfy had a cheaper option, and they went with it.

Thanks for reading and your comment. I enjoyed this show and wished Syfy took a chance on it.

Gray

In an old article dated back in Dec. 2010, Mark Stern explained why Alphas was eventually chosen over Three Inches in this way- “we found ourselves with 2 pilots that we loved,” Stern said. “They were both excellent and tested very well. Ultimately it came down to which pilot would work best as an hourlong franchise. We thought they both did but felt Alphas had a little bit more potential for that.” Then he went on to discuss the possibility of re-developing Three Inches into a single-camera half hour, maybe less mission-oriented and focusing more on the characters and their lives or simply on the central character, Walter and less on the team. I am figuring these changes were considered to help differentiate it from Alphas. It appears now that Syfy has dropped any such ideas. Personally, now after seeing the full pilot, I would probably not enjoy Three Inches as much with these changes.
In addition to paying the cast, I imagine there is also production costs to consider, such as what goes into more elaborate special effects, more location shoots, stuntwork, the number of cameras used, the size of the production crew required, sets, costumes, etc. It would be interesting to see overall how the two shows compare, which one was/is actually more expensive to produce. Another viewer of Three Inches pointed out elsewhere how, for example, the special powers of the team really could be demonstrated easily and convincingly without a great deal of special digital and camera effects.In looking at the ratings for Three Inches, without any real advertisement or support, it pulled in 1.02 million. Alphas, with promotion and strong lead-ins, ended its 11-episode run with around 1.1 million,

http://michelleealey.blogspot.com/ Michelle Ealey

‘Three Inches’ would have been horrible as a half hour show, and Syfy probably dropped the idea once they realized they would need another half hour program to fill the hour.

I used to work on the production side of the film business. When you hire an actor, the actor needs a place to stay on set, wardrobe, makeup, and food. The larger the cast, the more labor and food needed, and trailers are not cheap. Even if everyone was working for scale (which I doubt), the larger cast of ‘Three Inches’ means higher production costs. Also, one of the members of the team in ‘Three Inches’ talks to insects, so handlers and wranglers would be on set or special creature animations would have to be done in post.

When a project moves to post, you don’t have to pay to feed your crew. (I keep mentioning food because it is very expensive to feed a lot of people.) The effects in ‘Alphas’ are very simple; they are just graphics over the scene. And the graphics are recycled, only needing to be adjusted slightly to fit the scene.

Remember, Syfy cancelled ‘Eureka’ because the show’s profit margin was not high enough. ‘Eureka’ is very reliant on sets and props (building costs), and season four has seen an expansion of the cast. James Callis, Wil Wheaton, and Felicia Day, while not regulars, are not cheap. ‘Eureka’ has good numbers for Syfy, but the show wasn’t making enough money for Syfy, which is owned by NBC, which is actually NBC/Universal, which is now owned by Comcast.

TV is a business, a ruthless business, more ruthless than the film industry.

Thanks for your comments, Gray. I’m enjoying our conversation.

whosworld

Call the show something else! Nudge, or something. When I first saw the title I thought this was a show that was the complete opposite of “Hung”.

Gray

LOL…I have been following this show’s development pretty much from the very beginning. And, yep, the jokes over the title was bound to happen. At one point, I thought maybe they should change the title, but now I am thinking not. It fits perfectly! It’s not about how much one has, but what he does with it. And maybe only a little is enough. As Troy implied, rather than breaking down a door, one can simply open the lock to get in. :)

SciFiFan

Loved “Three Inches” and think Syfy made a huge mistake picking “Alphas” instead. “Alphas” took itself way too seriously. There was very little humor and the superheroes were so full of angst and woe is me over their abilities and having to use them. The plots and storylines were the same old thing with little to no creativity. Seems like Syfy chose “Alphas” because they already have a couple shows with some humor (“Eureka” and “Warehouse 13″) and wanted another dour, heavy, serious show. Blech.

“Three Inches” was fresh, much more engaging and original than “Alphas.” As for too many people in the pilot, Syfy could easily have dealt with that by having some of the heroes disappear before bringing it to series, if pay was the issue, or have each episode focus on different characters. The number of characters was definitely not a good reason to select the weighty dread of “Alphas” over the more enjoyable “Three Inches.” Stupid network suits making stupid decisions.

http://michelleealey.blogspot.com/ Michelle Ealey

I agree.

Ramithwade-el

I am an avid SciFi Fan and I loved this pilot. I hope it will become a series. I do not think there are too many characters. I also like alphas also. do we have to choose. If so I would go with 3 inches.

http://michelleealey.blogspot.com/ Michelle Ealey

What’s interesting is that many of the comments have people liking ‘Three Inches’ over ‘Alphas,’ but Syfy has attracted a more general audience since the network changed its name (which is why they changed it), and ‘Alphas’ has done well for the network, which is why is got a quick renewal.

Mike Porter

For me, I
loved the show. And I wasn’t expecting to feel that way. I figured it would be
fairly awful. I agree with Michelle’s analysis here as to why it likely didn’t
get picked up at the time. However, I see these as two totally different shows.
“Alphas” has some painful moments itself having watched the series… for me
far more so than Three Inches. But the appeal for me was that this feels more
like a modern living comic book for the times… centered around life in modern
day America for many 20 somethings, with a central hero figure that “does
the right thing” despite the circumstances and fear. It’s silly, and
innocent, uplifting and yet “urban kewl” all at the same time. Have
the themes been done before? Yes. But that doesn’t invalidate the fact that it
might still be a good show. For example, if it caught on in the 20 something
demographic, that’s a lucrative advertising spot, and I can see where it might
given a chance. Maybe a little alteration of music or something and they could
really have something… I wish they had used this pilot to their advantage and
targeted it for play for that demographic. It has potential.

I used to
love SciFi channel. But is just seems they’ve lost their way. IMHO: They seem
to miss some opportunities. They need a wider range of offerings. Diversity! More
shows! Give me a reason to watch you! Alpha’s got my attention. It got me
watching again.
Anonymous

I totally loved the show. I want to know what happens next and I won’t be able to since it wasn’t picked up. Every time I like on show on Syfy, they kill it one way or the other.
Carol Simpson

I loved this show! Was very disappointed to find that SyFy passed on it. I, too, loved the bit of sweetness and innocence of Walter. Do all science fiction shows have to be dark and disturbing? This one was not as silly as Eureka, for instance, with more believable characters who are just trying to figure out their place in life. I think there is a part of each that wants “to make the world a better place.” I loved the “ordinary superhero” personna that we could almost relate to. What would I do in that situation? We like to think that we would rise to the challenge, do the right thing. Three Inches provides hope that we would. Is that so bad?
Sawyer

Honestly, I think I just may be the only one that wasn’t too impressed with Three Inches. It wasn’t bad, but I expected more from it; The characters really aren’t that interesting and I find it hard to connect with any of them, even Walter. But I do have to say this too, when Alphas first aired I wasn’t impressed with it either, but the show grew on me more and more every week and now I really do love Alphas. Maybe Three Inches will grow on me too, if SyFy decides to air more episodes. If I had to choose between TI and Alphas right now though, Alphas would get my vote.
Gray

Really nice comment…but it is James, not Jason, Marsters
In truth, he is the reason I wanted to see the pilot despite learning that Syfy did not pick up the series. I hated the thought of him doing something and not being able to ever see it. I’ve been following his work for many years now. However, I heard about ”Three Inches” before he got the role of Troy. I was at his birthday party when it was announced that he was doing the pilot. I was really interested in it before and that only made me more so. I also had the pleasure of hearing James talk about the project a few times at public appearances after that. So, when it was passed over, it was a big disappointment. I really wanted to see it anyway, hoped it would happen, and was ever so glad Syfy did put it on the air eventually. But I have to say, I just might have watched it without James being a character on it.
Colleen

I couldn’t get through a whole episode of Alphas, but this was very enjoyable with a lot of room for development. The benefit of a large (and not that large, really) team is that later down the road they could concentrate on various characters. I think Syfy made a big mistake.
Morgana

When I read the premise for this show, I thought “oh goody another superhero show I can’t really relate to”, but honestly I can relate to this show far more than I can “Alphas”. I think that’s why despite having watched the entire first season (on dvr, not live) that I found it more difficult to watch it as the weeks went by. In reality with “Alphas” you have a group of mostly what the mass populous considers as “pretty people”, I mean hell not even the “senses girl” as someone else referred to her is ugly, then they had to have a tech person so they decided on a token guy who is played by someone who gained a good geek following from being on “Bones” who has a high functioning kind of Aspergers. With “Three Inches” you have the REAL misfits of the world finding each other, connecting and finding a place where they feel that they belong, as a family. The large cast works for me because each of their limitations is plausible and the team members can then compliment each other without it being contrived or forced. I think I’ll drop “Alphas” and hope Syfy decides to develop a full series of “Three Inches”. It’s hard to gain an intelligent female superhero fan…this show might have actually pulled me in. I mean c’mon they killed all my Gatehopping shows, give the female fans something more intelligent to watch please.
John

Having stumbled into it, I liked it. It is similar to Alphas, but felt a bit more humble, real.
Good cast, decent if standard shooting/editing.
The reasons I did not love it is the lack of freshness.
See if the following are also played out for you…

Guy pines for girl, who see him as “a friend” yet she is the typical stereotype girl that does not hang around as a friend. See That Girl for a fresh take.
Obligatory coreographed fight scene with exactly the same punches, reactions, and result. Guy fights fair, trades punches to face and gut. Knocks out opponent with punch to face. No limp, brusing or lack of ability in the next scene. If this had been a movie, it would have been swords.
The big, dark, bad gov’t bureau in the background that is amoral. Troy Hamilton would be smart enough not to draw that attention or patronage if he had watched any movies or shows in the past 20 years.
The cool and expensive HQ. In this modern age when trying to avoid the gov’t, groups would converse and meet in disposible, anonymous, single use ways. Sure, this means not shooting in the same set. Figure it out. Flash mob, not Crockett and Tubbs!
Stinky guy is not socialable. See Mystery Men. Instead, play against stereotype. Stinky guy should be charming otherwise, like Ted Bundy could charm victims, like Peg Bundy was attractive. It would have worked a lot better if emotions girl was not pleasant without powers.
The show focused on small abilities, then showed a skyline being darkened. Makes you think these are the minor league players (see Heros, Alphas, heck even Justice League’s Aquaman).
Mydragonmoon

Alphas sucks. I wish this show was picked up instead. The cast was great fun too. What a waste of a great show.
Spanglepuff

I don’t usually don’t even watch the Sci-fi channel, but I happened to catch Three Inches and really liked it. I kept looking for it. Too bad it wasn’t picked up.
Glamdiva12

I watch alphas and like it but I watched this show and I LOVED IT!!! SOOO much better than Alphas!!!
Daniel

No wonder a lot of ppl don’t favor SyFy. They don’t know a good show when they see 1. They had 2 change SciFi into SyFy and give it a new look. I happen 2 stumble upon this show by accident on its series premier and liked the show soooooooo much. Now I am very dissaponted because it won’t be happening & idk anything about the show Alphas, but I sure did have a connection with the character of Walter Spackman and am sure a lot of ppl did as well. If SYFY would bring this show in, WOW, that would be splendid! BRING IT IN, BRING IT IN, BRING IT IN!!!!!
Ahleshin

three would have been a perfect show to fill the sort of void left by smallville with relatable characters and storylines it had the potential to be a long and successful series but syfy saw differently
EdBee

Wish they would keep this show. I watched it and really liked it. It has Death from Supernatural and Spike from Buffy/Angel. What’s not to like?

‘Three Inches’ Pilot Review

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