Kevin (Probably) Saves the World Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Pilot
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Raise your hand if you think Jason Ritter is a national treasure, that has never been given the proper television series to showcase his immense talent?
Okay, we all have our hands raised, right? There is no way I am the only person in love with Mr. Ritter. An actor who can make a dopey character like Kevin Finn charming on Kevin (Probably) Saves the World Season 1 Episode 1 is a very gifted man.
He is hands down the MVP of this pilot and right now the main reason I think a lot of people will be tuning in.
This pilot is just like pretty much every other pilot ever created. It's the time to introduce the core characters, set up the premise and provide you with the hook to make you come back for subsequent viewings. I like my pilots concise and intriguing, with the hook juicy enough to get me excited about a whole season worth of material.
I can say that Kevin (Probably) Saves The World did just that.
The core characters are the aforementioned Kevin, a selfish slacker who has traveled home to stay with his engineering sister Amy after a suicide attempt. Amy's daughter Reese completes the core threesome of the show and she's still struggling some months after the death of her father.
From their first scene together, it's clear that these are three individuals who are struggling, albeit in different ways. And they just don't see how much they need each other quite yet.
Well good thing a meteor strikes not too far from the house and Kevin decides to investigate. After foolishly touching the rock and unknowingly bringing it home, warrior of God Yvette pops up and begins to clue us in on the premise of this show.
Yvette: In every generation, since the dawn of man, there are thirty-six righteous souls in the world. And they protect humanity by merely existing. Now there's only one.
Kevin: Oh okay.
Yvette: You, Kevin. You are the last of the righteous.
So basically Kevin has been given a mission to find and anoint the other 35 souls. Now of course if this were easy, there'd be no show. So first things first, Kevin pretty much has to change his entire way of thinking and become a much better version of the man he has always been.
It is through acts of kindness and selflessness that Kevin will build up his spiritual powers and then God will show him how to find the other righteous souls.
Kevin can't tell anyone about his newfound power, of course. So after an awkward exchange with Amy about the meteor (little side plot is that she sort of works with the government who is tracking the random meteor strikes), Kevin decides to skip town.
Reese, who up until this point has been a surly teenager, races after Kevin and arrives just in time to see him tracking down a stranger who bumped into him at the airport and never stopped smiling. Kevin gives a long speech that while a bit on the nose, feels tender and heartfelt thanks to the actor.
The man turns out to be deaf and offers Kevin a pencil for one dollar. Kevin instead gives the man all the money in his wallet and is met with a hug. This is the anointed embrace Yvette told us would happen after these acts of kindness and sure enough a white light appears and Kevin thinks he has found another soul.
But not so fast. The hook kicks in at the end when Yvette tells him that man wasn't an anointed soul, but he's learning and God rewards him with fake butterflies that emerge from his closet when he returns back to his sisters.
What? Yeah, I'm not sure what that means but me thinks he will continue to get signs and they will eventually lead him to a soul.
One thing I liked about this show is that even though there is a lot of talk of God, it never felt like this was a show about religion. You don't need to be religious to take this show for what it is and enjoy it.
It's also a show that while serious at times, also had a lot of humor. I may not have been bursting out laughing, but I had a smile on my face throughout the hour.
I'm curious what each week will look like going forward but I saw enough promise in the pilot to get me back for next week and that's really all you can hope for in a series premiere.
Okay fanatics, what did you all think about the first episode? What worked in the pilot and what did not? Will you be tuning in again?
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. And remember you can watch Kevin (Probably) Saves the World online any time your heart desires!
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on X.