The title character in “The Nine Lives of Chloe King” (8 p.m. Central Tuesdays on ABC Family) combines the powers/curses of my two favorite X-Men: Similar to Rogue, when Chloe kisses someone, they are paralyzed or they die; and similar to Wolverine, she has extendable claws and she’s very hard to kill.
She stands out from the pack
In a summer TV landscape packed with superheroes (MTV recently launched “Teen Wolf,” and “Alphas” is coming in July on SyFy), I decided to give “Chloe King” a shot for no particular reason, but I’m glad I did. I encountered one blurb that said it captures the spirit of “Buffy,” and usually I read that as code for “You’d be better off popping in a ‘Buffy’ DVD right now.”
Obviously, it’s too soon to put “Chloe King” in that elite company, but I definitely noticed similarities. The backlot-shot “Buffy” was rarely praised for its cinematography, but it did have a distinct dark-but-crisp look that I grew to like, and the San Francisco-set “Chloe King” is visually similar.
“The Nine Lives of Chloe King” (2011)
Tuesdays, ABC
Creator: Dan Berendsen
Stars: Skyler Samuels, Gracie Gillam, Ki Hong Lee
Most notable, though, is the Chloe-Grace-Paul friendship triangle that brings up warm, fuzzy memories of Buffy-Willow-Xander. Not so much in terms of personalities (although Chloe’s line deliveries sometimes remind me of Sarah Michelle Gellar), but more because they truly seem like three good friends.
That’s particularly refreshing when compared to “Chloe’s” lead-in, “Pretty Little Liars,” which I canceled from my viewing schedule after realizing: 1, I don’t like any of the characters, and 2, I have no idea what is going on, despite having watched the entire first season.
Chloe, played with effortless spunk by Skyler Samuels, complains (but not broodingly) about having never kissed a guy. (Paul says what about their kiss when they were 7, but she says that doesn’t count.) Then, on her 16th birthday, she decides to just go for it, dancing with a guy at a club and later going out for coffee with another guy. She forces herself to be self-confident, and when it pays off, she bubbles with more self-confidence.
Her powers kick in
Also for her 16th birthday, her latent superpowers kick in: Her fingernails can extend into claws, she has extraordinary balance, she always lands on her feet, and she’s a nimble fighter. Also, she has nine lives (more on that in a bit).
Amy (Grace Phipps) is Chloe’s even-more-excitable sidekick in life (and much more reluctantly, her sidekick in fighting bad guys). She’s as enthusiastic about Chloe’s life as she is her own. And Paul (Ki Hong Lee) — at least so far — is the dude in distress: Chloe has to rescue him at the end of episode one. Rather than doing the Xander and Willow thing and circling each other for years, Paul and Amy hook up in the pilot episode, suggesting that “Chloe King” isn’t interested in dragging out the old standbys.
Chloe meets a couple of fellow members of her ancient catlike race, the Mai, who provide exposition and help her fight off the hired assassin. Unfortunately, the fight scene is the weakest part of the episode, with quick cutaways that suggest the editors are hiding something.
Chloe wants nothing to do with her fellow Mai — her powers are cool and all, but she’d prefer to be a normal girl. As with “Buffy,” Chloe’s struggles to balance her superhero life with schoolwork and friends should provide the emotional centerpiece of the show.
Now back to that nine lives thing. Chloe is “killed” when she’s pushed off a building by the hitman, and her sprawled body is shown in that cliched TV fashion where blood slowly pools from her head. But quickly, she gets up. Later, we see that her back is completely bruised, but soon after that, the bruise is gone.
Lives well lived
So even though Chloe has a quippy line about how dying isn’t fun and she doesn’t intend to do it again, is there less suspense in a show where the character can’t die? It’s a valid concern, but I don’t think it will be a problem. Actually, seemingly mortal characters come back to life so often on TV that, in a way, the writers are just being up front with us: If it looks like she’s dead, she’s not really dead.
Besides, “Chloe King” should have enough else going for it: Chloe’s friendships with Amy and Paul, her relationship with her single mom, and her burgeoning romance with Brian (who has a tight relationship with his single dad, who — conflict-of-interest alert — is the mastermind behind the plot to kill Chloe).
The action scenes need to improve, and the Mai mythology is a bit bland so far, but I’m happy to trade in the “Pretty Little Liars” foursome and hang out with the “Chloe” gang instead.
What were your thoughts on the first episode? Will you be sticking with the show for a while?
Main photo: ABC Family publicity photo