New  Zealand. 2020s. When Alec Ross (Charles Mesure– V’s Kyle Hobbes) wakes up in a nice suburban house and realizes that he is supposedly married to Callie (Tandi Wright) with two kids, teenage Christian (Tom Cameron) and little Becky (Ariana Brunet), he is sure this is not his life. He doesn’t remember any of it, yet his wife seems genuinely concerned. She tries to convince him that he is going through a head trauma after an incident at the house. He tries to run but there is nowhere to go.

So he agrees to see their family doctor, Natasha Collins (Tania Nolan) at the Wellness Center. Everyone at the center, especially Collins, is very controlled and annoyingly composed. But it is not until Alec is taken through a back door, all tied up, that he realizes there is something seriously wrong. He runs, but soon he realizes that the cars are only “charged” enough to run within the town limits, he doesn’t seem to have enough “credits” to book a flight and the “Wellness” guys are after him.

After he is captured, he finds himself back in the hospital. This time, however, he wakes up –totally sure that he is Alec, a happily married man. His “memory” is slow, but intact. But just when he is about to go on with his life, he sees the message he recorded during his escape- the message says that he is not sure who he is but he can’t trust anyone, his family included…

Later, he starts to realize that there are even more wrong things with their town and that maybe, there are a few others who don’t fit in, like him… As he digs deeper and meets Jessica (Miriama McDowell), things get even more complicated. What the hell is this place? Why are they there? And can they make it out alive?

**

This Is Not My Life is a very intriguing and gripping sci-fi/drama/mystery series from New Zealand. Charles Mesure does a great job as Alec.  The first two episodes are combined, so brace yourselves for a 85-minute pilot. And while the pilot is not exactly very fast-paced, it does a good job with setting the mood, introducing the characters, giving clues about the potential and building enough suspense to make you watch the third episode. And from the 3^rd episode on, the show becomes a great, gripping ride that you don’t want to get off of.

I like the show’s realistic sci-fi attitude. The technology is quite advanced, but not so advanced that you can’t imagine their tech can’t really happen 10-15 years from now. It really plays the mystery card well. The human factor in everyone is also explored pretty well. To say how would be giving things away, but know that it shows you that you can’t just create a perfect, flawless community with human beings. You can’t just create a master plan for people’s lives and not think that things will not go out of control

**

Great context, good-writing. Every episode gives you exciting twists and turns.

Don’t worry about the show being from New Zealand. The theme is extremely universal and all the episodes can be easily found online.

The only bad thing about This Is Not My Life is that there’re only 13 episodes. In the end, there are still some questions that aren’t answered, but that’s not the screenwriters’ doing. I have a feeling they were counting on a second season. Still, 13 episodes have prevented the writers from screwing up. All episodes are terrific and the series end with a fantastic finale, even if it was meant for a season finale. Yes, I have seen and loved all 13.

Enjoy!

Also feat. Charles Mesure:

V 2009 TV Series – starring Elizabeth Mitchell, Joel Gretsch, Charles Mesure, Scott Wolf

Trivia for V’s Elizabeth Mitchell (Erica Evans) and Charles Mesure (Kyle Hobbes)