Nine Lives to Live Nine Lives to Endure – Recap Epi 1

Cat Girl the Remix

Last summer I got hooked on a TV show called The Gates. I had high hopes it would be on this year but I found out not long after the season was over that it had been canceled. The girl, Andie, in The Gates was Skyler Samuels. Skyler is the star of the Nine Lives of Chloe King. I just wanted to explain my initial interest in this show. I do also have a thing for cats.

Nine Live of Chloe King starts out with Chloe running through the park being pursued by someone. She goes into something like a monument to get away. She arrives at the top and her pursuer, a black man with cat like features pushes her out of a window. She lands on the pavement but then opens her eyes to show she also has cat eyes. Then the theme music comes on and the TWO Days Earlier flashes on the screen.
And so we begin the episode properly. I have to say the first part of this show reminded me of something but then I realized it was this very show. I have been seeing the previews it seems forever. Okay I will try to stay focused, back to the episode.

We see Chloe in the bed not wanting to get up for school. Her mother calls her from downstairs. She comes down seconds later or what seems like seconds to eat breakfast with her mother or to more than likely just give her a recap of what happened in her life the previous day. She rambles briefly about things that we have no knowledge about since it actually the first scene of this new series so I think it’s just filler to show how the two women live their lives. Chloe is not unlike Rory Gilmore an independent young woman despite her age and her mother allows her to make her own decisions.

Chloe leaves a few minutes later to meet her Besties, Amy and Paul, at the park. Amy is a dark haired girl with no real definable ethnos and Paul is the Asian. I certainly have nothing against either of these too but I do think having an ethnic bestie and a young man of a minority race is a tired plot device. Anyway so these two have a pre birthday cake for Chloe to share with them. It appears Chloe is about to turn the magic Sixteen on the very next day. Chloe wished that her live was more adventurous. They talk about taking risks and being kissed as she walks on the park bench like a supposed professional tight rope walker. Paul tries to walk on the bench but falls. I thought this was lame, maybe it’s just me.

The next scene its night time and the trio is in line at a club. None of them are old enough but luckily some drunks are coming out the side door so they slip in. Chloe meets a guy right away who knows they are too young but he is also younger with a fake identification. Chloe asks him to dance and she gets wild on the dance floor; well wild for a fifteen year old. She works her assets with lots of hair throwing and smiles. The guy, Javier, tells her she is wild but she is not that wild she says before he asks for her number after several dances and they stand outside. It is only briefly that she bemoans the fact that her friends took off without her. Now this is an oddity because they all arrived together or that was the impression I received. I wouldn’t think that her best friends in the world would leave her with a perfect stranger but that is what happened. She takes his picture then adds the number. She walks away from him only to return seconds later to kiss him on the mouth. It’s some stunningly good kiss and she is suddenly feeling alive as she walks off into the cold. We see the assassin, bad guy, watching her from the shadows.

After the break, we see Amy and Chloe in the halls of the high school talking about Chloe’s first kiss.. Chloe is interrupted from her story by jocks playing with a basketball in the hallway ad she throws the basketball down the hall very fast it lands in the garbage can in the hallway. Everyone is astonished including Chloe but especially this tall red haired guy named, Alex. Chloe’s rambling to him as his nearness makes her nervous is very unconvincing acting at least to me. Its overkill or it just seemed odd. He is close enough to kiss but his cousin, Jasmine interrupts them.

Later that day at Chloe job at a local retail store her work mate makes a comment about Chloe being able to hear the music from the ipod that is not connected to the speakers. Chloe shrugs it off just before a young man enters the store. Brian, the young man, flirts with Chloe as he tries on a hat and tells her he just needs it to keep his ears warm not to be fashionable.
I was like huh? Hmmm so maybe this young man has an ear issue also not unlike Chloe, is he also feline? What city has all these cats roaming the streets? I digress.

It’s obvious that a lot of this premiere is just to show off Chloe’s powers and could have been used for other things. I want to know has the ABC family grabbed the market on how to put everything about a show in the first episode in case it doesn’t last for long or is that just me? If it were to be truly a efficient episode it would have been more subtle in showing all that was going on with Chloe over time instead of giving us the Clif Notes up front. I guess TV shows are more visual but it just seems even here near the beginning it was not keeping my attention. I mean if I never see another episode I know what I need to know already so what would motivate me to return for episode two or three?

It could have been so much better to learn maybe one Feline thing about Chloe up front. I don’t the fact that she didn’t die could have been the whole first episode and then each week we see a new component of her uniqueness and by episode say Six we get the big reveal about where she came from and why she is special. Is that just a pipe dream or have television shows lost that magic of suspense??
Small rant over, so Chloe walks out of the store and is almost struck by a car before she jumps seamlessly on the hood. Then she goes scampering in an alley to show off her jumping skills before going to talk to her bestie, Amy about it all.

Chloe just thinks her birthday wish has come true. Amy tells Chloe that she and Paul made out and that Paul was uncomfortable about it which is suppose to explain why he did come to Chloe’s birthday dinner that night. They argue over the missing Paul then Chloe doesn’t want to hear any more about the Paul thing at all because she is not ready to deal with her bestie’s as a couple.

Mom calls to tell her she is late, which is a way to give us a chance to see mom has the birthday cake waiting for Chloe. Amy teases her about beating up bad guys because of the things she has told Amy that has happened to her. Then we see the bad guy in the restaurant with them. This guy is not really hiding just looking suspicious though it’s out of place to the point that as a restaurant owner I personally would have had him thrown out for loitering.

Outside as Chloe rushed to get home; a bum hassles her before she scratches him with her cat claws but is unaware what is happening until after it is over. She has no idea what is going on. On her arrival at home she giver her mother a big hug but does not reveal any of what had gone on with her. Now for a mother and daughter who we are to believe are quite close this is another off part of the episode at least in my eyes. Chloe only apologizes for being late to her mother. She almost passes by the cake on the table that her mother is anxious to eat.

Here we finally get a bit of a mystery to work with; we find out a little about the father. Her father left over ten years ago. Her mother immediately, makes a comment about her coming in late the night before. We are to assume the missing father is just not that important at least for the moment. Chloe tells her the night before she met a boy. Her mother doesn’t understand what is going on with Chloe because Chloe has left her in the dark on this whole meeting a boy thing which well is more important than telling the audience about missing papa.
In a surprising twist we find out that the mother is not her real mother. Chloe asks about her birth parents so we hear the history. Chloe’s adopted dad, missing papa, feel in love with her in an orphanage in the Ukraine. This is in my opinion the lamest story ever because it does not happen so easily for people to adopt. Her mother says that money may have exchanged hands to get Chloe out. The mother is vague on the details and we get the sense that she might be hiding something or just didn’t care much about how Chloe came into her life but is happy to have her. Is she happy to have her because she is lonesome or because she loves her? Just kidding. Although so far mom does not have any friends and has not left the house yet.

Any who, in the next scene Amy is at Chloe’s job talking about clothes and boys. Chloe’s work mate who obviously has had lots of experience with Amy’s visits which involve talking and not buying, rolls her eyes at Amy. This is a very short scene and like with other shows like this one showed just a snapshot of a relationship which could have been shown at another point in time in a more effective manner.
After the break Brian shows up at the store to find that the store has. This opportunity is used for Brian to take Chloe out for a coffee. Chloe tells Brian about her father who has disappeared. I assumed he was dead but guess that was just me. Brian tells how his mother has died five years ago. During these bonding moment a man appears with a dog as they sit at the outside at the café. Brian is almost attacked by a seemingly well mannered dog because he was nearest the sidewalk? I don’t know how it was Brian maybe Chloe moved fast. Brian comments on Chloe’s long nails after she grabs his arm to see if he is okay after jumping up to get away from the dog. Chloe makes an excuse to leave as soon as the incident is settled. Chloe realizes its her fault. The man had even said that his dog had never done that before.
Chloe walks through the park but knows almost immediately someone is after her though she has no idea why. She runs and we see it’s the beginning of the show all over again.

I have to say as this part, which is a repeat of the first few seconds of the show that it has not been as exciting as I had hoped but I am curious enough to want to see more. Luckily for those who like recaps I don’t give up on shows easily. 

Chloe lands on the pavement and people scream but by the time the killer arrives back down stairs on the scene Chloe is gone. She runs through the park again and runs into ……..guess who? Jasmine and Alex from school. They were actually looking out for her all the time. They run and talk at the same time as they finally stop to tell Chloe about why she is transforming.

Jasmine takes the lead in the revelation while Alex makes dumb remarks. Mi descended from the feline goddess Bastat who mated with humans creating hybrids. The MI used to be revered but there was a fall out and they broke the bonds so they are now being hunted. The Mi are neither human or Gods but of course both though they cannot mate with humans and the humans die. They warn her that even a kiss can kill the human.

Side Note: I don’t remember the details but in the Cat woman movie with Halle Berry the woman with the cats told her a story about the history of cats, freedom and independence. Hmmm it all sounds real familiar. Oh wait so Chloe is the new cat girl, I so want to like this show more. Yeah as if I didn’t know.

Chloe finds out Javier, the guy from the club, died because she kissed him. She is upset and angry because she had no idea. Alex and Jasmine tell her she is the Uniter who is suppose to save them from being hunted because only the ONE who has Nine lives has that ability. “Nine lives to live Nine lives to endure” said Jasmine. Now does not sound like such a great gift. Not only can’t she date but she has to basically be a hero and she is only sixteen.

Chloe runs home to take a shower and it’s evident that she had been badly injured after her fall because her back looks battered at first. She takes a shower as she considers what she is and after the shower, yes she is healed.

After the break, Assassin guy talks to a man in a car; he tells the man that she is the Uniter. The man says he should kill Chloe as many times as he has too. The man passes a sign which reads Rezza Capital, a office building? I am not sure if it’s a hotel or an office at this point.

Amy shows up at Chloe’s house upset that Paul did show up for their date. Chloe tells Amy she died today and Amy asks if she is okay. I have to say that was the worse acting on that show even at this point. Okay? Ok? Who says Ok when you say you died? Amy doesn’t know anything about the MI only that Chloe is having strange things happen to her. *shakes head* I don’t know I got a bad feeling about there that this show might not be around for long  Even if it wasn’t bad acting it was a VERY ODD statement. I just had a thought maybe Amy is not who Chloe things she is in reality. I love a mystery and I am hoping there might be a mystery behind Amy’s strangeness. Ok well, Then a call comes from Paul; Chloe answers and Paul says someone wants to talk to her. The assassin tells her she needs to come to meet him to keep Paul alive.

Amy drives Chloe to get Paul and Amy doesn’t want her to go inside alone but Chloe show her the impressive long nails. Chloe goes in knowing it’s a trap to try to get Paul. Assassin flings throwing stars at her and he says he is her executioner. Chloe’s eyes change to cats eyes. She makes a comment that is supposed to be bold but sounds stupid. It reminds me of the Cat woman when there was all the smart Alec talk that made it seem like a parody instead of a movie.

Outside Jasmine and Alex show up to rescue Chloe.

Inside they all fight and talk again as they fight. I really hate shows with too much talking when there is fighting. It takes the viewer out of the moment.

Jasmine and Alex join the fight. Paul tries to help but only gets thrown around like the rest. Chloe gets thrown again out the window though she lands on her feet. Assassin is hit from behind by Amy as he falls out the window too but eventually he gets the upper hand again as he wounds Jasmine.

In another surprise, the man that the assassin met turned out to be Brian’s father. They chat briefly and Brian blushes as his father mentions he looks happy; his father guesses it’s because of a girl.

At Alex’ place Jasmine is healing and at Chloe’s home her mother pulls out all the information she has on Chloe. There is a birth certificate, baby foot prints, baptism record and other items not yet identified. Brian tries to call Chloe at the end but she does not answer for fear she would somehow cause him to be harmed. Next to Last scene, message from DAD, Trust No One shows up in her email. How often does dad write? I thought they were out of contact with missing papa, huh?

At the end Alex is outside now watching her house.

In conclusion I have to say. I am not as sure of Skyler’s acting skill as I was in The Gates and to me that is sad. I do not know if she can handle the load of a series as the star. I hate saying that but only time can tell. It could have been just because I expected so much more from this first episode. There are quirks in her character on this show that seem contrived like the way she holds her mouth to look perky. I am not an acting coach but I have watched a lot of television and this show I don’t see as a keeper. I do hope I am wrong. I do know that being chosen as a lead in a television show should go a long way in the business at least on primetime. I guess what I am saying is whether or not this new show makes it Skyler will still be learning and growing while we are still wondering about the many directions this first episode could have taken.
That’s my two cents for now, see you next time.

Wishes for the show:
I wish we would get to see what it was like for Chloe growing up and how she met her besties.
I wish that we would see why or how the Assassin was chosen.
I wish mom would be more mom like and keep up with where Chloe is during the day as well as show us more about what mom does for her job.