
Sale: As low as 99¢ for your first month

Review: 'No Tomorrow' has a bright outlook

Robert Bianco
Tori Anderson is Evie in 'No Tomorrow.'

It's a thin line between love and “Oh crap, you're nuts.”

Most of us have been there: out on a date with some wildly attractive someone who turns out to be a bit, you know, off. Not dangerous or damaged, mind you: just odd enough to make for a funny story to share with your friends the next day.

Like, for example, your encounter with that very good-looking free spirit who thinks the world is about to end and lives like there's No Tomorrow (Tuesday, 9 ET/PT, *** out of four).

That should set off alarm bells — as it does, in CW's sprightly romantic comedy, for Evie (an adorable Tori Anderson). If those bells are not enough to scare her off, it’s because despite his apocalyptic convictions, Xavier (Galavant’s equally appealing Joshua Sasse) is precisely the kind of man Evie is most likely to find irresistible. At least under the laws of televised romance.

Joshua Sasse is Xavier and Tori Anderson is Evie in 'No Tomorrow.'

Evie, you see, is a control freak who secretly yearns to be free, whereas Xavier is a fun-loving risk taker who desperately needs to learn a few boundaries. You know they’ll meet somewhere in the middle, but there's every indication that the process could be entertaining, due to some clever writing and the stars' instant on-screen chemistry. Each puts a fresh twist on a conventional character, and neither allows that character to cross over from endearing to annoying.

Nor are they facing Tomorrow on their own. Evie has a nasty but funny boss (Amy Pietz) and two supportive friends (Sarayu Blue and Jonathan Langdon) who are there for her when a drink needs to be thrown and she can’t do it. She also has a painfully soft-spoken boyfriend (Jesse Rath) who is seemingly wrong for her but is allowed a sympathetic moment of his own, rather than just being a comic foil.

The opener for this CW charmer, TV's latest series based on a foreign hit, easily gets over the hurdle that stymies some romantic comedies: your willingness to accept the couple as made for each other. But it does create a puzzling stumbling block in a controlling bit of behavior from Xavier that would likely send most women running. It would be one thing if the writers were using this moment to establish a line he will not cross again, but the episode ends with a move that is nearly as risky. Let’s just hope the writers know what they’re doing.

Because to squander a chance like this would just be nuts.