The Passage Season 1 Reviews and Episode Guide

The Passage, Justin Cronin’s enormous, bestselling, millenium-spanning 3-book vampire epic (we’re big fans), was successfully adapted to television, and now that the show has completed its first season on Fox, we have to say our reviews have been mostly positive, especially once the story really got rolling.

We’ve followed the first season with great interest, and we’ll keep this article as our episode guide to The Passage season 1, with hopefully more to come.

Read our review of the season finale here!

The Passage Reviews and Episode Guide

The Passage Episode 1: “Pilot”

During a flu outbreak, a federal agent is tasked with bringing in a 10 year old girl for a secret test. After meeting her, his loyalties are tested. (air date: January 14, 2019)

A review of the pilot can be found in our Sci Fi Fidelity podcast.

The Passage Episode 2: “You Owe Me a Unicorn”

Amy and a wounded Brad seek refuge with Brad’s ex-military instructor; Dr. Lear reflects on the decisions that led him to involve Fanning in his research; testing of the virus on Anthony Carter begins. (air date: January 21, 2019)

Read our review of “You Owe Me a Unicorn” here.

The Passage Episode 3: “That Never Should Have Happened”

Brad makes a deal with Sykes and Richards to stay with Amy at Project NOAH as they begin testing the virus on her, then forms an alliance when he discovers the truth about the state of the inmates in 4B; Babcock sheds light on her past. (air date: January 28, 2019)

Read our review of “That Never Should Have Happened” here.

The Passage Episode 4: “Whose Blood Is That?”

Wolgast convinces Sykes and Lear to let him and Amy outside of the facility for exercise in an effort to protect her; Fanning’s hold on those kept in Project Noah grows stronger as flashbacks reveal how Carter wound up on death row. (air date: February 4, 2019)

Read our review of “Whose Blood Is That?” here.

The Passage Episode 5: “How You Gonna Outrun the End of the World?”

Brad and Amy plot their escape with an unlikely accomplice when a high ranking official suddenly arrives at Project NOAH. Sykes and Richards begin questioning each other’s motives. (air date: February 11, 2019)

Read our review of “How You Gonna Outrun the End of the World?” here.

The Passage Episode 6: “I Want to Know What You Taste Like”

Guilder and Richards race to mobilize a search party when a viral gets loose outside Project NOAH; Amy creates friction with Brad when she volunteers to help in an unexpected way. (air date: February 18, 2019)

Read our review of “I Want to Know What You Taste Like” here.

The Passage Episode 7: “You Are Like the Sun”

Brad and Lila remember their history together as they plan to save Amy; Horace Guilder is given full authority over Project NOAH; Carter prepares Amy for Fanning’s grand plan; Lear fights to help Elizabeth. (air date: February 25, 2019)

Read our review of “You Are Like the Sun” here.

The Passage Episode 8: “You Are Not That Girl Anymore”

As Amy experiences symptoms of the virus that indicate she is close to turning, Brad brings everyone together, and Lila and Sykes race to perfect an anti-viral medicine to save her from Fanning. (air date: March 4, 2019)

Read our review of “You Are Not That Girl Anymore” here.

The Passage Episode 9: “Stay in the Light”

Amy must decide what’s best for humanity when the only way to stop Fanning and the virals from escaping Project NOAH involves an explosion that could leave Brad, Sykes and the cure for the virus in the crossfire. (air date: March 11, 2019)

Read our review of “Stay in the Light” here.

The Passage Episode 10: “Last Lesson”

Following the explosion, surprising alliances are formed and a key figure returns to convince everyone to fight for their lives. (air date: March 11, 2019)

Read our review of “Last Lesson” here.

The Passage Cast

Mark-Paul Gosselaar played Brad Wolgast, an FBI agent who, initially tasked with bringing the viral patient zero – a 10-year-old girl named Amy Bellafonte – to her experimenters, had a crisis of conscience and instead rescued the girl from her fate as a test subject, leaving both on the run from the irate bureaucrats. However, just as in Cronin’s novels, Fox’s The Passage will tell its story across multiple timelines, following Wolgast and Amy in the prime/present timeline and a flashback timeline, explaining the origin of the viral vampires through Amy’s eyes.

Further Reading: Sci Fi Fidelity Podcast: The Passage

Saniyya Sidney played a crucial co-lead role as the messianic, super-powered, immortal patient zero of The Passage’s vampire apocalypse, Amy Bellafonte.

Helping Wolgast and Amy fight the virus in the present timeline were the rest of The Passage cast, consisting of Genesis Rodriguez (Time After Time, Big Hero 6) as Alicia, B.J. Britt (Antoine Triplett from Agents of SHIELD, Pitch) as Peter and Jennifer Ferrin (Hell on Wheels, Time After Time) as Sarah. Additionally, Brianne Howey (Fox’s The Exorcist, Horrible Bosses 2) played test subject Shauna.

Vincent Piazza played Clark Richards. The character certainly had the makings of a standout, said to be brilliant and charming with a dark sense of humor. Clark was intriguingly described as “all restless energy and fierce intelligence.”

The Passage Story

The book series jumps back and forth in time between a hundred years in the future, where residents of one of the last remaining colonies of humans in a United States overrun by vampires try to keep the ultraviolent lights on, and the present day as the vampire outbreak quickly overtakes the country. It’s often compared to Stephen King’s The Stand. 

Here’s the official synopsis from Fox:

Based on author Justin Cronin’s best-selling trilogy of the same name, THE PASSAGE is an epic, character-driven thriller written by Liz Heldens (“Friday Night Lights”). Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner and Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Ridley Scott (“The Martian,” “Gladiator”) and writer/director Matt Reeves (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Cloverfield”), THE PASSAGE focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all disease, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race. When a young girl, AMY BELLAFONTE (Saniyya Sidney, “Fences,” “Hidden Figures”) is chosen to be a test subject, Federal Agent BRAD WOLGAST (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, “Pitch”) is the man who is tasked with bringing her to Project Noah. Ultimately, however, Wolgast becomes her surrogate father, as he tries to protect her at any cost. Brad and Amy’s journey will force them to confront Project Noah’s lead scientist, MAJOR NICHOLE SYKES (Caroline Chikezie, “The Shannara Chronicles”), and the hardened ex-CIA operative in charge of operations, CLARK RICHARDS (Vincent Piazza, “Boardwalk Empire,” “Rescue Me”), whom Brad trained. It likewise brings them face-to-face with a dangerous new race of beings confined within the walls of Project Noah, including former scientist TIM FANNING (Jamie McShane, “Bosch,” “Bloodline,” “Sons of Anarchy”) and death-row inmate SHAUNA BABCOCK (Brianne Howey, “The Exorcist”). In seeking out any allies he can find, Brad also turns to his former wife, DR. LILA KYLE (Emmanuelle Chriqui, “Entourage,” “Murder in the First”), for help. But as Project Noah’s scientists hone in on a cure that could save humanity, these new beings begin to test their own powers, inching one step closer to an escape that could lead to an unimaginable apocalypse.

Read more about the chances for The Passage season 2 on Fox.

Listen to a discussion of The Passage on the Sci Fi Fidelity podcast:

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Michael Ahr is a writer, reviewer, and podcaster here at Den of Geek; you can check out his work here or follow him on Twitter (@mikescifi). He co-hosts our Sci Fi Fidelity podcast and voices much of our video content.