I watched this when it first came out.. Just watched the whole thing again.. I was surprised at how well, it stood up to the passage of time.. I don't know how much Spielberg actually had a hand in this, but it does carry much of his expert film making. Some of it, especially the early episodes, remind us original 'baby boomers' of the 'wonder ness' of those years. The fact it cover cult-decades, and several generations, it is extremely well put together. There is not a lot of special effects. But just enough at the right moments. It's more a human nature series. While we have gotten used to super fancy CGI effects, and razor fast, radical edits. I appreciated the pace of this very much.. Yes, some episodes are better than others. I didn't pay attention to who directed which episodes, but I did notice some difference. I think for the scope it covered, it is a well executes series.

I've been a SciFi fan all my life. Nevertheless I watched many of the effect driven shows, in the end its always the story that is important to me. Good if the effects are credible, but too many shows or movies have nothing really interesting besides the effects. I watch Taken for about the third time now. I really like that it is not just about good guys killing bad aliens. There are not effects all over the place, just where they are needed. The story is kind of like a theory that tries to make a probable explanation for all the abduction and flying saucer stories, crop circles or ancient astronauts we often hear about, a very entertaining way how all the mystery could be connected. And its told by using the history of several generations of three families and the consequences the aliens have on them. Some reviewers wrote to find Taken boring, and I can understand that from the view of someone looking just for action and effects. Taken is so much more then that.

I just finished watching this entire series and wanted to share some thoughts.The good:Much of the acting seems very natural and heartfelt.Dakota's narration really helps reinforce all the heartfelt acting including her own. Films that have also used narration well in the past really benefit from it. The Shawshank Redemption is a perfect example. I can't escape mentioning again just how heartfelt the acting is. There are many scenes where it doesn't even seem like acting and that it's a real person in that character just telling you how they feel or speaking of their trauma. I truly cherished all those great scenes where every word was spoke in earnest. If you enjoy really connecting emotionally with the characters in what you watch then I highly recommend this series. The bad:I found some of the non-verbal acting very unnatural. A prime example of this is early in episode 7 when it shows the one character playing drums. She looks so awkward and unnatural that I simply can't even pretend her character really is a drummer. Those types of non- dialogue scenes need to reinforce the character. Not devolve your belief in them.Some of the wigs and makeup is very bad and look extremely fake. I would expect more from something Spielberg was heavily involved with. I found the story was too scattered which weakened everything overall a little.

"Taken" is by far, the best piece of science fiction dealing with the subjects of U.F.O.'s & alien abduction, ever made. Not only does it incorporate many of the events & personalities of real U.F.O. folklore. It also brings up, for the viewer's consideration, all the other possible "logical" reasons why some people believe they have been abducted by aliens & it does so without just going down through them like a laundry list. I also thought the reason given for the abductions was very original & interesting. The story seems very realistic to me because I was unfamiliar with most of the cast. I think that makes a big difference sometimes. Particularly when the cast is such a talented one as this one. The story also wasn't rushed like happens a lot of times. Besides all of this, the special effects were great! and the music, the songs used in the background & the original symphonic compositions, were perfect. You really feel like you're in the year you're suppose to be in. For any fan of this genre, "Taken" is a MUST SEE!!