“Aliens in America”, a comedy series that premiered Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. on the CW channel, was surprisingly interesting, but was not good enough to completely capture and hold the audience’s interest.
The episode begins with a boy, Justin Tolchuck (Daniel Byrd), who feels as though he does not fit in at his high school. Getting his braces off makes him happy because he thinks the braces are the source of his being the object of mockery and his not-so-famous reputation. As he arrives at school he is not the target of his ‘enemies’. His day gets better as a girl notices that his braces are off and just when he thinks that his life could not get better, his schoolmates make a crude joke that upsets, hurts and angers him.
Justin’s counselor decides that having an exchanged student will be good for him. To his family’s surprise, the exchange student, Raja, is a Muslim teen from Pakistan. Everyone, especially Justin, is disappointed. Justin claims this will make him look even worse. A few days go by and Justin learns to appreciate Raja’s friendship.
This show was rather entertaining in a weird way; overall it makes you want to keep watching just to see what will happen to the pitiable Justin, and how Raja adapts to the injustice in his American high school. The name of the show, in general, does not really tie in with the plotline, leaving the watcher waiting to see what will happen in every episode.
Raja is an entertaining element to the show and adds a little comedy here and there as the show progresses. The sitcom-like plot is realistic and sheds light on Muslim prejudice in a light, funny way. Probably the most annoying part of the show is Justin’s mother, who is conniving and superficial. However, as she accepts Raja towards the end, the viewer accepts her too.
“Aliens in America” is worth watching when it is time to kick back and relax after a long, hard day of work. The light plot and humor keeps the viewer engaged and laughing, but helps the audience understand the current political and social situation with Muslims in America.
