The review "God Friended Me": CBS Show really tries, really hard

As for the titles, "God Friended Me" is one of the most effective of the television season of the fall of 2018. All that happens in the new CBS series comes from a simple unexplained notification on the phone of Miles Finer (Brandon Michael Hall). Host of a faith-based podcast and son of a pastor (Joe Morton), Miles is an atheist, which makes him even more skeptical about this unexpected request from a friend.

With a "rejection of the blow" instead of a "rejection of the call", "God Friended Me" begins with a flash driver in which everything and nothing matters at the same time. It is anchored by a sympathetic cast, and operates from a beautifully conceptual premise, but for now, it results in an exaggerated mix of exaggerated emotions and movements familiar to family drama.

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Despite Miles' tenuous relationship with his father, the first episode deals with God as an ambiguous force rather than within the confines of traditional religious concepts. (Apart from a restricted friends list, all miles can be based on the Facebook profile of "God", that is, they love nature). This could be an effective way to move forward. ideas about the family, regrets and obligations could be more convincing without being neglected by theological questions.

Through research in social media and with the help of Rakesh (Suraj Sharma), a colleague working on Internet security, Miles follows writer Cara Bloom (Violett Beane). After forming an instant alliance around his need for answers and his need for a story that will become viral, Miles and Cara go in search of "God."

"God has tended me"

Jonathan Wenk / CBS

This is the problem of "God has softened me": when you defeat a leading cosmic force, it increases the interactions and motivations of the characters. Cara's need for clicks is becoming increasingly important. When Miles loses a key computer file, he screams in the sky (an area he probably believes is unoccupied). Rakesh's rage for housing for his appointment is an overreaction to circumstances.

This is strangely similar to the problem currently facing "9-1-1": how to maintain something that starts with the biggest challenge? Certainly, a show called "God Friended Me" probably should never be a pillar of subtlety. The question of the existence of a higher power is as old as humanity and has proved very difficult to overcome; There's no need for transportation mishaps or life-changing meetings unless the show trusts the personal struggles behind Miles (and, to a certain extent, Cara's).

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Thus, the pilot of "God Friended Me" throws Miles a series of explosive coincidences and builds the hope that miracles are commonplace. Unless "God Friended Me" uses meta and examines the consequences of waiting until everything goes well (unlikely, given the end of the pilot), it's an endless loop of fulfillment of wishes – and not what might defy the beliefs of an atheist.

Still, there is a germ of an idea here that future episodes could explore. Even though he is looking for the source of this mysterious query from friends, Miles is accused of being involved in the lives of strangers. Watching it struggling with this sense of obligation could form the basis of a timely one hour show. With its bright, colorful exteriors and church sequences bathed in light, there is a brilliant glow to a lot of "God's made me friend". The test is to know if he is ready to dig underneath.