This show is not getting much love from the gurus at Metacritic. You don't have to watch too much to see why. It is absolutely bewildering. To say that three people are sharing the same dream, as the first reviewer did, is to put it mildly. It would be more accurate to say that elements of the dreams of each show up in the dreams of the others. Which would be tough enough. BUT . . . .

There is a dream researcher, who may or may not be a mega billionaire. There is a baby, who may or may not have been born. There is a love affair, which may or may not have happened. There is a mass suicide, which apparently DID happen, but with someone on the scene who has no apparent role in the tragedy . . . but there she is. And so on.

But with all, I like this one. There are SO many shows on television these days, you can't watch them all. And too many that are similar - small town bewildered by death/disappearance of child - mystery to be solved by detective with his/her problems of their own; people have mysteriously returned from the dead; a plague has ravaged 99% of the earth - and - my favorite - what I have named the British plot - a great terrorist plot is hatched, hero must unravel, only to discover . . . .it's . . . it's. . . . the GOVERNMENT!!!! This was original 50 years ago, guys. It's a hackneyed cliché now.

So I started the show because of the credibility of the producer, Gale Hurd, and I will stay with it, bewildering or not. It is unique, and that counts for a lot.

Watched the first 6 episodes now, and i absolutely love it.

It is not the standard kind of series, it is unique in the way that it tells the story. You have to make some effort to follow, especially during the first episode you need to accustom. But that is why I love it: not just another one of the many TV-shows around, it is not straight to the point and all predictable. It is dreamy, mysterious and bewildering. Sometimes you even don't know for sure whether the characters are awake or dreaming.

A must see I think, at least if you are capable of absorbing a different style of TV- making :)

The show is about 3 strangers who are all subconsciously connected through their dreams. The characters are a mother who is looking for her lost child, whom she is told by the hospital doesn't exist, a man looking for his missing girlfriend & a detective trying to cure his catatonic mother.

The directing is great, it plays out like a movie. Fortuately it does not resemble Inception, except for the fact the the theme revolves around dreams & the subconscious. The acting is also good too, especially by one of the leads, Lizzy Brochere who plays Tess.

This seems like one of those shows that will be a long mini-series, or play out like an extended movie, because it's difficult to see how the plot can carry out more than 1 or 2 seasons without the mysteries being resolved. It's a unique plot and very entertaining to watch. The pilot already had a few twists!

I'd be interested in to know the backstory on why the critics have taken such a negative view of this series right off the bat. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus (dating from the very first episode) is "Falling Water attempts complexity and intrigue but churns out an unimaginative concept lacking a redeemable payoff."

The fact is the concept is highly original--I have spent my life reading and viewing science-fiction and have never come across this theme before. And how can they possibly know that it is "lacking a redeemable payoff"?

Is it possible that these reviewers receive a whole series plot development along with the copy of the first episode? I mean, if they know how the series develops and,for that reason, they know it is a dud, this should be acknowledged up-front somewhere.

i was the kind of kid who stayed up til 3am watching the original twilight zones, so i love this kind of thing, and this series really worked for me.

fun premise, beautifully shot, looking forward to next episode. it could go in lots of different directions, so i am curious. also the performances were really excellent for the most part.

even though some of the ideas have been seen before, i found the way this particular show has woven it all together to be really original and entertaining. hoping to see it come together in a way that surprises me - time will tell.

Beautiful to look at, with intricate and sophisticated storytelling. A remarkable show -- looking forward to seeing where it goes. I feel like there are images that could stand on their own as still photographs. Clearly someone is thinking with great care about how each shot is composed, and there's tremendous talent behind the camera.

After watching the first episode, I don't feel ready to even begin to try to describe the story, except to say that it's astonishingly ambitious and completely unique. There are layers of complexity to it that I don't think I've seen in television -- what comes next?

There's an active and serious mind behind this show, and it promises big things.

Falling Water is one of the most exciting and interesting new shows of 2016 for sure. It explores a dark and dangerous world where characters are pulled back and forth between dreams and reality. It's beautifully photographed, expertly cast, and intricately plotted. It manages the rare feat of delivering subtle and sophisticated storytelling while consistently deploying an increasingly awesome barrage of shocking surprises. The best part is…I really can't tell where it's going yet. The mystery seems huge but the characters are grounded in identifiable human emotions and all tied together by a puzzling web of interconnected desires. I'm especially impressed by David Ajala's performance so far. I can't wait for the rest of the season. This series has got a bright future!

"Dreamscape". "Inception". "Vanilla Sky". We have seen stories about dreams before. Lucid dreams. Dream travelling. The connectivity of dreamers. Now USA brings us "Falling Water", a sci-fi mystery that revolves around three characters.

Tess (Lizzie Brochere) is haunted by a nightmare. In real life, she is an artist, a photographer, a discerner of trends in style and taste.

Burton (David Ajala) is a compliance and regulations investigator for a high-powered Wall Street trading firm. He dreams of a woman.

Taka (Will Yun Lee) is a NYPD cop. He cares for his unresponsive mother.

A narrator asks "What if we're all dreaming together?" A man (Zak Orth) is conducting experiments about dream connectivity. Taka becomes involved in a confusing case of mass suicide. Interconnected clues start weaving the three stories together.

The show has a serious tone. It's stylish. Atmospheric. The background music sometimes consists of eerie sounds, not exactly music. It's mesmerizing. The differences between dreams and reality are sometimes indiscernible. From the viewer's perspective, there is unpredictability--a hallmark of dreams. You want to see what happens next. Anything is possible. (I am reminded of "The Matrix").

The cast feels like a collection of future superstars. The photography is beautiful. I want to know where this mystery leads.

Update 11/30/16: I am raising my grade to "8". This story still has my attention, though I still don't know where it's going.

So I've never written a review before so bare with me.

Falling Water's preview was intriguing. Dreams, the sub-conscious mind, connecting on another level along with the required dose of mystery and the hint of coming answers. It looked to have all of the necessary ingredients for a tasty, high intellect sci-fi drama soufflé.

So, my highly intellectual, overly dramatic sci-fi loving mind insisted that I take a bite.

Bittersweet.Or rather "sweetbitter". It swirled around in my head like a slightly old chunk of dark chocolate would on my tongue, but in reverse.

For what little you get from the first episode the idea is very sweet having most of the qualities a TV series of this genre should.

But then you get the bitter.

The writing is harsh to say the least. Cliché, dis-jointed and seemingly lacking much direction. It just didn't flow very well and that took a toll on the episode as a whole.

I'll watch a few more episodes with the hopes that this was noticed by whoever is in charge of the writing and can somehow remedy the cheesiness. Maybe have the writers watch a few old Chris Carter X-Files episodes to get a "taste" of some excellent episode writing.

So, to summarize, you should take a bite of this treat but expect the bitter taste of sub-standard writing along with the sweet aroma that the premise creates.

Bon Appetit. ;)

I really liked this one. I like the producers other shows, so I had high hopes for this one and it didn't let me down. Three main characters dreaming different parts of a single dream. The concept is unique, the actors are really good (love Burton!) and the look of the show is great.

Everything out there is so predictable and milk-toast boring, so I was happy to find something so different and cool. You definitely have to pay attention and just go along for the ride. But it's a fun one. I will definitely keep watching. And kudos to USA for changing up their previously horrid product and taking a chance on this. Someone there has some vision! Hopefully they are smart enough to keep it around.

Falling Water tries hard, but quickly fails to hold attention with its postmodern, fragmentary and mysterious approach. The appeal of this wears off quickly when you start wondering when something is actually going to make sense. But instead of narrative arc we are burdened with clichés and stereotypical hyper-American character tropes. You just know we're heading into way deeper waters before things start making sense and this lack of narrative direction quickly becomes a turn off. And for a show so very dependent on dreaming sequences, it just does "dreaming" really badly. For example, dreamers are offered Ambien to help them nod off. However there's a real "lucid dreaming" drug out there that will put you to sleep in the middle of the day and give you quite amazing dreams. It's called Baclofen. But the writers and producers have apparently never heard of this medication. Who did their research? Also the dreams that characters dream are much too obviously narrative devices, in any case they are nothing like my dreams. They have way too much focus, detail and colour and carry far too much import to be believable on anything but TV. A good try, but "Twin Peaks" this certainly isn't.

Burton (David Ajala) is the head of security for the Firm dreaming of The Woman in Red (Anna Wood). Tess (Lizzie Brocheré) dreams of giving birth but she can't remember and there are no records of it. Taka (Will Yun Lee) is a NYPD detective with a catatonic mother. These three strangers have collective dreams which connect them to each other and a conspiracy cult about a boy with mysterious worldwide implications. Bill Boerg (Zak Orth) is a rich mystery man who is interested in Tess.

It's a lot of dreams without the imaginative visual intensity of Inception. A good chunk of the show exists in the dreamworld but the TV budget is not up to the task. It's a mystery but at some point, it becomes infuriating. It takes too long to explain anything. It doesn't have any thrills. There is some tension and I do like the actors. I gave it a college try and finished the first season. With so much TV in the world today, this one doesn't make the cut.

ADD I actually gave it a post graduate try. The second season didn't improve my impression of the show. Taka's mother does have a great death scene but it's one scene out of one season. It's not enough. I appreciate the attempt but I am reluctant to recommend this for anyone.

The show has three main characters, somehow stereotypical, which individual plots dissolves in a messy and pretentious development. The continuous inner references joint their paths during this pilot, both in real life and their sleep – sometimes hard to say what is what. Not memorable acting, photography or soundtrack, but with promising story development. Sci-fi is never easy and they try to explain so much in a very unconventional way during a short chapter, that is where this premiere fails in my opinion. They try to connect so many things, as the dreams are supposed to be connected – but dreams don't always make sense. And for understanding (and not to fall sleep) you will need to be very awake, with your eyes wide open. Otherwise, you may miss the potential surprises this show may have for us in the upcoming episodes.

(sorry if my English is not so good)

Here you can find my extended review in Spanish:

http://todoseries.com/pilotos-de-otono-falling-water/

This review is based only on the first 2 episodes and so things can change, but so far this has me intrigued.

The show is twin-peaks+666Park Avenue mixed together in a dream-world in a big City environment with strange bewildering music. In other words this is not for everyone. I think most people will end up on one or the other side; you either love it, or you hate it.

The acting great, it has to be otherwise this type of show cannot work. The directing great, light, music, pretty much everything about this show is great, but it is also weird, strange, and really out there.

The first 5min or so of the 1st episode my mind went from "crap", to "what the hell is this?" to "crap" again, but for some reason I kept watching and the more I watched the more the show sucked me in.

I have added this to my follow-list, but I have to admit that I've not yet made up my mind if this really is crap or completely amazing, but few TV shows can suck me in and keep me guessing, wondering, thinking and keep watching like this one can.

This can end up being one of the most amazing best shows of all time, or it can crash and become boring and just weird in general. The coming episodes will tell.

I enjoyed this show from the beginning. I admit I seek out anything that critics are calling slow or complicated. I do enjoy simple, brainless TV like People of Earth where characters are the draw.

The story line was simple throughout. The journey through it made it worthwhile. I enjoy seeing new and unique ideas (at least to me) no matter how bad the presentation. Here the production values are high and the sets well integrated. I thought the subdued acting/direction fit the dream state.

The only thing I have to say about the finale was that I was left with a much different feeling about the boy than when he was first introduced. I hope there is a second season.

After episode 10, 'Falling Water' left me with not much more insight to the purpose of the story than after the first episode. This might be the reason why so many people do not like it. Most parts of the story are revealed in the pilot, or at least whereto it would go in the following episodes, but after that we do not learn much more, despite we want to.

The final episode gives a bit more 'Action' and a nice trial-and-error-loop, but in the end, it's not that satisfying.

The dream world is not much disturbing or frightening, it's a very finite space like an expanded mirror of our world, which is, at least for me, far not enough to impress. And with that I do not mean visuals like in 'Inception', but in a dream you can change location and time like, say, from beyond creation of earth to your classroom to a cave on the solid center of Uranus. But that would be more a Doctor Who thing. I liked 'Falling Water' for its style, for the slow pacing, and of course for David Ajala's character Burton, but once I realized that the story struggles with it's purpose, I lost a bigger part of my interest.

That may have happened even earlier to people who are not as patient as me (and I think I am very patient).

Whereby the show has (or should have) much potential. There is dream mysticism, modern technique, conspiracy, a cult, shady characters with unclear intents, fight of the minds, floating borders between reality and dreamscape, a set of good actors, and much more ingredients that could make it outstanding. A great deal of action is not really needed for that, watch season one of 'Mr. Robot', or 'The Leftovers'.

Sadly, many promises (at least those from the trailers) are not fulfilled. The show starts to "tread water" early, loses its grip and therewith its audience.

I hope really for a second (and better) season, which is not clear by now (12/2016) if it will happen.

Edit (01/2018): It got a second season which runs now. Let's hope for better scripts this time.

Cannot wait for more! I am a fan of Blake Masters' work going way back. Gale Ann Hurd is a master going way back as well - excited to see more from Valhalla. This show is keeping me on the edge of my seat constantly. It is weird and fun and confusing in all the best ways. I love sci-fi and there is definitely not enough of it on American television. I truly cannot wait to see where this is all leading. The premise is pretty deep in that it is all about people connecting through shared dreams. It is unique and totally different from anything I have every seen before - that is a quality that may not be for everyone, but for my money, it is the most important thing!

I find myself counting down the days until this show is back on. I recheck my PVR over and over again to see if a new show just 'appears' on it! ????Please give this show a chance my fellow sci if nerds!!

If you enjoy sci-if shows like the Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, or Regenesis OR EVEN the class novels like Narnia, Through the Looking Glass, etc..

**hint**. Follow the small clues left behind (like the following the white rabbit down the hole!!) and around in each scene... words are dropped from songs and comment that you'll hear later on.. people are hidden in small scenes and than are suddenly a bigger character in another... not a show that you can have pee breaks on hence why I Pvr it! I Love it!

Btw I love u Tess you are one interesting character! I love your 'hobby art.' I empathized with you most. I like Det Take and his equally catatonic mom! And of course that strong gent named Burton! Can't wait to ride this series for a long time! Ty

Very very classy smart show, Falling Water (fall 2016 USA Network) really pulls me in with sympathetic diverse characters, exceptionally intelligent dialogue, beautiful cinematography, deep psychological plotting, and crackling cultural references from art to philosophy (i get the obscure ones too, including Dr. Caligari and upstate NY's burned over district). I'm so relieved that the show was *not* as horror shock oriented as the pilot, crafted to no doubt catch attention. And I'm delighted that the characters became increasingly relationship oriented where no one is good or bad, only conflicted.

The most obvious ingredient missing that the writers needed to showcase is real dream interpreting - how can you have a series about dreams with minimal symbolism that no one talks about? Symbolic interpreting is where life gets really poignant and interesting and mind-bending, not the traditional reliance on billionaire conspiracies and magic kids that everyone's looking for. Those features don't make the show good or bad, only familiar.

Humanity is desperately confused as it evolves, and endless superhero memes are barely touching the real deep angst that we're all going through. This show has a historic shot at hitting the mark of everyone's thrill and torment at transcendent self-discovery, thus becoming the touchstone that the producers hoped for. Kudos to the dream study commissioned in tandem with the debut, that was a bold and brilliant step into the future! (search online for "a new study finds why some of us may dream better than others")

Thank you to everyone involved, because even if it never gets past one season Falling Water is a milestone to remember. Critics that dismiss this as just another "confuse them and they will come" Lost-knockoff are disappointingly missing the point, and I know I'm not the only one who knows the real score. Pleasant or not, dreams *mean* something important.

Pleasant dreaming!

This is like the less fun version of Sense8. Nice try. But not quite.

Sense8: Eight people around the world are connected through their minds and can enter each other's reality. Each character has an awesome backstory (German Thief, Indian Scientist, South Korean businesswoman, Nigerian cab driver with ambition, Chicago cop, Icelandic DJ, Mexican tele-novella star, transgender computer hacker) and use their skills to help one another. And they have this big bad entity/organization that wants to capture them to use their powers. Starts/ends with the actual vaginal birth of the characters.

Falling Water: Three people in the US who are able to walk into other dreams and communicate. They have a big bad entity/organization that wants to capture them to use their powers. Starts with the actual vaginal birth of a character that "connects" them...

So if you are looking for something to tide you over until Sense8's season 2 comes out... sure give it a try. But if you haven't seen Sense8 yet... Don't waste your time on this. Watch Sense8 instead.

Another reviewer has compared this to Sense8 and I am in total agreement with them. Unfortunately I had recently binged on Sense8 and its Christmas special (that reviewer wrote in October so I hope he has watched the special by now). Like the previous reviewer, I was so enamored with Sense8 that it was very hard to "get into" Falling Water, I felt the character development wasn't nearly as strong as well as a few other things, including the writing and direction of the Wachowskis), but the reviewer was right, it is a good show to tide us fans over until next May when Season 2 comes out.

At first I was going to give up on Falling Water for that reason, but decided after coming here and reading the reviews, I should put my prejudice aside and try to enjoy it. I must say by the beginning of Episode 4 I was becoming more and more interested. It's a good show so I gave it an 8 star rating, I would have liked it better had I not seen Sense8 first however.

Falling Water is an unusual show for USA Network, or frankly any broadcast network, in that its 1st season is much more suitable for binge-watching than week-to-week serial viewing. If you follow it all the way through, this show is rewarding, but the journey isn't always easy.

The show is about a mother's search for her lost son, who may only exist in her dreams. However, this plot and the wide cast of characters it involves develops quite slowly and in a disjointed manner over the first five episodes.

There are three main characters (the possible mother, a cop, and a corporate security specialist) the show follows over these initial episodes and outside of an obsession with their dreams, initially these characters and their stories appear to have little to do with one another.

Things don't begin to come together to until the 6th episode and with a show like this if you are expecting an ultimate neat resolution of everything by season one's finale... well, you are dreaming.

However, even though the plot unfolds at a snails pace, and neat resolutions are never the kind of thing a show like this has on offer, by season one's finale I had been pulled into the show, its characters, and potential future evolutions of the plot.

Additionally, one thing that really stands out as unique about this show--it is frankly not just pseudo-deep enfolding one in its own mythology, it is actually deep. And by that I mean that the author(s) have clearly put in some time on their own spiritual evolution at some point in their life. There are all sorts of explicit and implicit references to things like the Kaballah, Taoism, Neo-platonism, the mystical poetry of Blake and William Butler Yeats, and many other things that I was really quite surprised to see reflected in a television script. It sometimes is a bit forced, but I still give the show a ton of credit for even trying.

To begin with the beginning. I had my doubts, almost had me so confuses i wanted to give up but Episode 6 is a revealer! I'm loving the dream set-up. The different abilitys in dreaming are believeble.

Damnnn, what a freaking good show! And not to mention season 2. The twists and sickness are really good.

I'm really hoping for a season 3!

It's better than average and closer to very good but it is not very good. Otherwise a very enjoyable TV series

Liked the boardroom scene where Tess pitches the crown logo with the pic of braiding on the wall. Kudos to the creative folks - those images (crown, and braiding) are the same I used for my company Plectic which is about complexity! You may find a few coincidences in the series that appeal to you too:-)