aul Callan (Ulrich) is an investigator of modern miracles for the Catholic church in Boston. However, lately Paul finds his faith waning as he repeatedly discovers mundane explanations to what others believe are miracles. He shares his doubts with Father Calero (Elizondo), a priest he calls Poppi, and decides to take a sabbatical for a few months.
Paul gets as far away from Boston and investigating miracles as he can, and ends up working in construction. However, he has a strange, unsettling dream of a boy who is bleeding from his eyes. The boy tells Paul he is waiting for him.
While he'd like nothing more than to forget about miracles for a while, Poppi calls and asks him to check into reports of a miracle in his area. Paul agrees and finds himself at the home of Tommy Ferguson, a sick boy who some believe has healed people. Tommy's mother is distraught by the attention and by the fact that her son seems to be able to heal everyone but himself. When Paul finally meets Tommy, he comes face to face with the little boy in his dream.
Unsettling dreams involving Tommy continue to haunt Paul as he finds himself beginning to believe that the child just might be the conduit of a miracle. But to Paul, it's an odd miracle. Every time Tommy heals someone, he gets sicker. Tommy himself is afraid of dying and darkness. He wonders if the
darkness wants something.
When Paul witnesses Tommy heal an infant, he begins to understand what the cost might be for Tommy if he doesn't stop healing people. Paul soon discovers that powerful forces are at work, and those forces may change his life forever.
Disturbing, dark and scary
Miracles is a stunning new drama about darkness and light. Unfortunately, the title of the series, while accurate, handicaps the show right from the beginning by implying the series might be better off on Pax. The truth is, Pax wouldn't touch this disturbing yet superbly produced series
with a 10-foot pole.
The pilot sets up the series beautifully, allowing viewers to identify with the soft-spoken, haunted Paul. As a character, Paul is lost, uncertain of his faith, and desperately trying to do the right thing. The events happening to him are spinning his life in directions he has no control over, and yet we know Paul will make the right decisions if he can. Skeet Ulrich gets under Paul's skin in a way that makes him feel like a real person. Every expression is subtle and understated, creating some powerfully emotional moments.
As the series continues with future episodes, Paul will join forces with Alva Keel (Macfadyen) and Evelyn Santos (Ramirez) to investigate the paranormal. Keel believes the rapidly growing number of strange events are leading up to a frightening and deadly "large event." It creates what could turn out to be the start of a fine mythology for the series.
Miracles, which might on the surface seem to cover some of the same territory as Mysterious Ways, actually has far more in common with the dark Millennium in its belief that sinister things lurk in the darkness
and those things have a plan.
However, this well-written, edgy series doesn't need to live in the shadow of any other series. With its dramatic use of light and shadows and the stark use of sound and silence, Miracles has the quality of a film. Some of the most surprising revelations are told in a whisper, creating stunning television. Miracles achieves something few television series have been managed—it's scary.
