Perhaps Lost is the best example of Abrams examining a team or ‘family’. It is truly an ensemble show, and by spending time working first and foremost on the relationships within the group it made the overall narrative that much more powerful. It was because of those relationships that we cared what happened and is why so many of the shock deaths and twists were so dramatic. Likewise, Fringe wouldn’t have been the success it was if we didn’t appreciate the dynamic between Walter, Olivia, Peter and even Astrid. In fact, Fringe was at times dependent on the strength of that bond as its complicated and non-linear mythology did at times distract from the emotional core of the show. Believe’s central thread of family relationships and a small group fighting a powerful organisation picks up on just these themes.

Strong, motivated women

If we go all the way back to the beginning it’s clear that Abrams likes strong female characters and isn’t afraid of using them to lead shows. Believe’s Bo joins a long line of strong Abrams heroines, as seen in Felicity, Alias, Lost, Alcatraz, Fringe and Revolution, particularly in the case of Felicity and Alias. Tough female leads are not unusual, though when compared like to like in terms of their male counterparts the numbers highlight that TV is most certainly male-dominated, and especially so in the action and adventure genre (Xena and Buffy being notable exceptions).

Where Abrams differs though is in his treatment of these characters. Rarely are they ‘traditional’ in the sense of being wives, girlfriends or mothers, although some do fulfil these roles. In Abrams’ world, his female characters are able to use their femininity as a weapon (Alias is the very clear example here), are also fiercely independent, (see Believe’s Bo, Lost’s Kate, Claire, Sun and Juliet as well as Revolution’s Rachel and Charlie Matheson) but can also be also sensitive and tender (see Fringe’s Olivia). Most, are all three and when you think about them as a collective they represent some of the most fascinating, entertaining and exciting female characters on the small screen.

Power corrupts

Don’t trust people in authority. That message is loud and clear in the majority of Abrams’ shows. In Person Of Interest, Alias, Undercovers and more recently Revolution the government can’t be trusted. In Lost it’s the Dharma Initiative, in Fringe it’s William Bell, the government and our future selves, in Believe it’s Orchestra, and in Alcatraz – well we didn’t get that far, but I’m betting the government probably had something to do with it. The common ground is that people who have any kind of power, be it political, technological and even information or knowledge cannot be trusted and as such are typically the bad guys. As a result, a lot of the narrative in Abrams’ shows consists of fighting conspiracies, bureaucracy and the unknown.

Not only does this make for great drama but it also highlights another fundamental Abrams theme: that of the underdog. What is Believe’s Tate, a wrongfully convicted death row inmate, if not an underdog? In Person Of Interest it’s John and Harold against the entire government, (true, one is a billionaire, the other an unstopping fighting machine), Revolution speaks for itself, and the final season of Fringe sees the team fighting against an entire invasion from the future. Abrams truly likes sticking it to the ‘man’, and if the odds are ridiculously high, the more the merrier.