The Lottery –“Genie” Review. The Bodyguard is Awesome.

Season 1, Episode 4

Air Date: Sunday, August 10, 2014 at 10/9c on Lifetime

Rating: ★★★★★

“You’re going to keep pushing for the truth, aren’t you?” – James

The Lottery ventures into kidnapping kids (for a good cause), infecting people with harmless viruses (for scientific purposes), and killing off those who know too much (for fun). This is certainly getting deeper than I expected. I thought The Lottery would focus on finding women to be surrogates to save humanity. While the miraculous fertilized embryos haven’t been pushed to the wayside, they are slowly becoming unimportant. Most dystopian dramas are heavily laced with governmental and bureaucratic interference with people’s daily lives. I didn’t expect this series to stray too far from that trope, but I’m becoming disappointed with the way things are progressing.

Obsessed Much?

I’d love to see these two team up.

With visions of Nathan (J. August Richards) dancing in her head, Chief of Staff Vanessa Keller (Athena Karkanis) finds herself on a mission. I don’t think she realizes how much trouble she can get herself into. Doesn’t Vanessa know when you snoop into mysterious occurrences involving government officials, someone always ends up dead? I love that she pushes until she gets what she wants, but I worry she won’t be able to use her title to get out of a sticky situation. Vanessa is still one of my favorite characters, and I want to see where the writers take her next. She is a veritable powerhouse in her authoritative position, yet she doesn’t seem as confident as she once was now that she knows a little more about ‘things.’ Karkanis wears her character’s chief of staff title well. She always keeps her head up, shoulders squared, and exhibits the traits of a good leader. With Vanessa taking a heavy blow to her emotional state, Karkanis gives light to Vanessa’s vulnerabilities, while at the same time closing her off. The realism shown with Vanessa crying while running from memories of her lover gives her character more depth. She isn’t just a shallow caricature of a powerful woman. She has feelings too; she may try to hide them to keep up the façade of being in control, but she slips like a normal human being. I get it. Nathan meant a lot to Vanessa, more than she was willing to let on, but does it mean she can’t perform her duties? I say no. Vanessa isn’t easily swayed once she has an idea set in her mind. Like a dog with a bone, she holds on for dear life, tugging at leads until they unravel to reveal what’s hidden.

The Department of Inhumanity

Kyle is finally let out of his box. But to what end?

There is something bigger going on here than what we know. How did the infertility crisis begin in the first place? Why were only six children born six years ago? What’s the significance of that number, if any, and why were two people with viable reproductive organs injected with a “vaccine?” For those answers, I turn to the experts. James (David Alpay) and Dr. Alison (Marley Shelton) may have discovered the secret to Kyle’s (Michael Graziadei) condition. I still don’t know where the writers are taking this story line. Kyle is being singled out for one reason or another, yet nothing comes of it because an explanation pops up to make the bad things go away. Graziadei can only do so much with what the writers provide him and I’d like to see the passionate Kyle again. You know Kyle has to be thinking of some way to get Elvis (Jesse Filkow) back other than visiting a lawyer. Boring! My thing is I thought Kyle would still be on the run, raising Elvis, and I don’t know, maybe making house calls (bow chicka wow wow). Instead, we’re moving from the drama surrounding the single dad into the more scientific and mysterious portion of this ride. Awesome! Perhaps Alison and James will team up with Kyle at some point. He still holds the key to solving the infertility issue and he’s the only lead they have. Besides, Kyle and Alison have mad evasion skills to put to the test. They’d make a great duo.

Overall

This could be trouble. Darius is not to be trusted.

A lot of what should be shocking comes off as too predictable. The one person who knows a huge secret is shot while trying to reveal it to Vanessa; Darius Hayes (Martin Donovan) blames the whole diplomat murder on a recently deceased man; and a missing junkie mom returns clean and sober. “Genie” does nothing but drum up a ton of questions there probably won’t be answers to for a long while. And what exactly, or who, is supposed to be the genie in this equation? I’m rooting for Alison, Vanessa, and Kyle to come out on top, though I’m afraid of what lies ahead for them. What do you think about this week’s episode of The Lottery? How about Alison’s kickass bodyguard? I like him. Drop me a line in the comments section or tweet me @ellemoe if you are keen to discuss the goings on in “Genie.”

Tune in to The Lottery, Sundays at 10/9c, only on Lifetime. For more on the show, visit the official site.

Follow The Lottery on Twitter, using #TheLottery.

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Elle

Writer, mother, realist, cloud lover, daydreamer, dessert enthusiast, sweet tea addict, perfectionist, and lover of life and Christ, but not in that order. http://www.fanfiction.net/~vikingloverelle