I hate emotional manipulation, and I often see Jack Bauer when I look at Kiefer, no matter his role, so I was skeptical heading into the pilot. I was pleasantly surprised to find a pretty smart show that was hinting at a lot of possibility, without much pretense. Wait, is this really on FOX?! The vibe of this show is all positive, and you can nitpick the logistics and science that they use all you want, most of it is very sound anyways, but you cannot deny the appeal of the show.

The pilot had solid writing, good acting, a unique premise, and was just believable enough to make most people keep watching.

It has a chance to be a very unique platform to break down barriers other shows constantly build up (stereotypes, plot conventions, clichés, etc.)...but time will tell.

Note: I found the second episode even better than the first, and much more realistic in terms of the connections.