We can watch a lot of things on TV nowadays. Our many, many channels are filled with lawyers getting people off death row, cops putting bad guys away, families having dramatic fights and sorta celebrities throwing things at each other during lavish dinner parties. Television isn't exactly full to bursting with shows about the potential end of the world, but if we could have more TV series like The CW's No Tomorrow, that wouldn't be such a bad thing. The show is fun, funny and gentle, but it has no problem working its way into your heart and making you want more.
Evie Callahan (Tori Anderson, Killjoys) has a problem...Well, actually she's got several problems. Her relationship with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Timothy has stalled yet again; she's got a job that she's not that good at and a boss who doubts her talents. Overall, Evie's life is pretty meh right now. That is, until she meets Xavier (Joshua Sasse, Galavant). She's immediately attracted to the good looking Brit, and he's sweet on her as well. A couple of chance encounters at the local farmer's market soon lead to another coincidence when a package meant for Xavier lands on Evie's doorstep and she does the neighborly thing and takes the delivery to him.
That immediate attraction lasts through an actual conversation between Evie and Xavier. She finds out that he's living a life that many people would dream of: Xavier has given up his job and everything he disliked doing, and only does what he wants. Evie wonders how he gets to live such a cool life, so he tells her his secret. According to Xavier, the human race only has eight months and 12 days left to live because there's a runaway asteroid heading right for us. And, once he realized this fact, he was determined to carpe all the diems he could until the end of time.
While Evie isn't quite so sure about the whole asteroid apocalypse thing, she does enjoy spending time with Xavier and his do-whatever-you-want attitude that's spurred on by his "apocalyst" (that's his notebook full of ideas for cool things to do until the end of the world). So, with her life needing some zip, Evie quickly falls in with Xavier and his free spirited life, but all is not as easy as it seems it would be.
One of my favorite things about No Tomorrow is how Evie, at first, seems like a stereotypical romantic comedy character, but then we see that there's more to her. Sure, she's dissatisfied with her going-nowhere job and her sorta boyfriend who's so timid that he actually needs subtitles for us to know what he says with his quiet voice. And, yes, she has dreams of doing something bigger that keep getting stomped on by her boss and the team she manages at work who would all rather that she didn't sound quite so upbeat about their warehouse jobs. She's also kind of goofy in an adorable way, but that's not all there is to Evie. She's a lot tougher than she looks. Usually, a personality like hers would be completely over-taken by someone like Xavier. But, when he oversteps and tries to force his life on her way too much, she quickly puts him in his place. Evie makes it clear that, while she appreciates the push toward a fuller life that he's given her, she'll seize the day in her own way and at her own time.
Through Evie, the show gets to take the fantasy that many people have of living a life free of responsibilities they'd rather not have, and make it into a semi-relatable real life scenario. So, instead of this being a show about wild wish fulfillment, it's a show about how to get through the things you have to deal with and still having the things you want in life, which is the best of both worlds, really.
No Tomorrow has a lot of heart, and it's easy to watch Evie and Xavier work their way through their respective "apocalysts." Leads Tori Anderson and Joshua Sasse are both easily likable. Anderson is already quite capable of headlining a show, and is watchable whether on her own or interacting with any of her co-stars. You'll have an easy time believing that Evie has a deeper well of personality while watching Anderson as the character. Sasse, for his part, has a lot of charm that you could easily see being used to lure nice women into freewheeling lifestyles, but he, too, has more going on than we suspect at first.
You can check out No Tomorrow when it debuts on The CW on Tuesday, October 4 at 9 p.m. Be sure to check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see when other new shows, and your returning favorites, will air.
