So here we are. A day removed from finally seeing Knight Rider back on the airwaves. Admittedly, I've been nervous about it since the announcement, repeatedly saying, "They better not screw it all up." And?
They didn't! And here's why....
First of all, it's as if KR2000 never happened. Much like the job was handled with Superman Returns (in regards to placing it after Superman II in the universe), the story continues post-1985. The writing was wonderful. My gripe with KR2000 was that they simply got too cute, buying into all of the year 2000 nonsense and going completely Orwellian in the process... and just happening to put Knight Rider in the middle. With this installment, they've managed to do something that the original did: placing the storyline in our current time but imagining the possibilities within a still realistic construct. It's just like the classic. There's no Sci-Fi Channel leap into the future, no total strangers thrust into KITT's driver seat (c'mon... it's Michael's DNA!), and no desire to throw my remote control through the television. In order to get the full effect, watch the new movie and KR2000 back to back, pausing only to see how stupid it seems to see the year 2000 at the start of the latter. The end of KR2000 seemed like the end of the alternate universe of Knight Rider but, thankfully, FLAG is reborn. They did it right.
Secondly, despite a couple of continuity issues that were apparent to the dedicated/obsessive such as myself (for instance, those of us who remember that, according to Junkyard Dog in season 3, Charles Graiman was not one of the three men who worked on the original KITT), those issues were seemingly explained away. Okay. I can live with that. But why does Michael have a 23-year old son? 2008-23=1985. Wow... so Michael knocked Jenny up BEFORE he got shot and married Stevie. Michael was a player. Surpised we haven't seen him on an episode of Maury.
But I'm okay with it. Most would never notice.
The car is great. I wondered how it would seem but it was spectacular. As stated before, they didn't get too cute. They did it the way it was done in the original. Current timeframe, current and familiar but advanced technology, an advanced state of reality. KR2000 had stuff going on that was not only patently unrealistic (at any point), it was just outright stupid. That isn't the case here.
Thirdly, I know I wasn't the only one who was screaming "Say it!" at the television in the last ten minutes. I knew it was coming. We all did. Michael had to look at Mike and tell him about Wilton, passing on the ideology that one man can make a difference. It was in that moment that what we were all hoping for since the project was announced finally occurred. The gap was bridged. Knight Rider is back!
Will we see a new series? Who knows. But after last night, I certainly hope so. Let's all forget the 1991 disaster. Let's let Knight Rider live on, passed on to a new generation but still enjoyed by the old one. Let's let NBC tell us what Michael Knight has been up to since April of 1986. Let's find out what happened to Bonnie, April, RC, and FLAG. Let's see how Devon's final years were, sans Thomas Watts and those idiotic sonic tazer things. Most importantly, let's take Knight Rider to new heights and see the ultimate optimistic ideological storyline continue on for years to come, in a world where we desperately need something to believe in.
A final question or two... did Graiman design another Mustang with a primary function of self-preservation? Does Michael have another son somewhere by another woman that looks just like Mike but happens to be a little twisted?
Sorry. I had to.
