Pilot (episode)

Pilot is the first episode of the first season of  Two Worlds. It originally aired on June 14 2007, and was written by showrunner Jason Holt.

"Pilot" introduces Luke Cosgrove as he is introduced and subsequently hired in the Two Worlds Program. The episode ends with a cliffhanger into the next episode, establishing the main story arc of the series.

Plot
Luke Cosgrove, a security officer at PsyFex Industries in Washington, investigates a break-in at PsyFex, where several machinery parts were stolen.

A trail leads to the Two Worlds facility, where he confronts Dr. John Harker, who admits to arranging the theft of the property but only because PsyFex refused to sell them to him. When he is subsequently offered a job Luke is conflicted by reporting Harker or taking his offer.

He returns to PsyFex and meets with the manager of the company, Alec Faireaux. Faireaux seems to know of Harker, and confirms that PsyFex refused Harker their machine property, even when he offered them a hefty sum. Luke tries to convince Fairfeaux that he can get Harker to pay, but after learning that Luke confronted Harker and did not report, Fairfeaux fires Luke.

Almost around the same time, Luke's girlfriend leaves him because of his unemployment, plunging his generally stable life into ruin. He visits Two Worlds and takes up Harker's offer, where his introduced to Dr. Amanda Shaw and Dominic Williams, two of Harker's co-workers. Harker shows Luke the focus of their work, a device dubbed the "Harker Doorway, which hypothetically enables interstellar and possibly interdimensional travel.

However Harker's device is largely inactive, even after acquiring the PsyFex parts, and constantly remains at a steadily rising percentage of functionality. The device will hypothetically only work if it reaches one hundred percent.

Writing
Showrunner and creator Jason Holt wrote the initial script for the pilot episode when pitching the show in late 2006. The original show was dubbed "Babylonia"; and several character names were different.

The final script for "Pilot" was completed in May 2007, two weeks before the show was announced to debut on Sci-Fi Channel starting in June. Christopher Heyerdahl, the first member of the cast to join, gave his input into the pilot script and made suggestions for his character, most prominently the decision to rename him from Jacob to John.

Broadcast
The episode premièred on the Sci-Fi Channel on June 14 2007 at 9:30 PM EST, generating a strong  Nielsen rating. The UK broadcast followed on June 21 at the same time, generating decent ratings there also.

Reception
The episode received generally positive reviews. James Newbaum of Sci-Fi Weekly praised the show for establishing itself early and the use of Luke Cosgrove in expositing the audience to the story. He liked the pilot's "cliffhanger" ending, but said that many viewers might not like the unresolved end, and that the episode did "demand commitment".

IGN's Ramon Isley gave the episode a 7/10, praising its "smart writing" and "strong performances", but disliking the lack of resolution as "robbing the audience" and demanding "their commitment" too early on.