A very solid beginning. There's some clear cut good guys and bad guys, but I liked the fact that Peter Clifford is presented as quaint in many ways, but not exactly naive either. And I like Assumpta as his foil, someone who's willing to help, but not at all shy about expressing disdain for the institution that Peter stands for. The best scene in the premiere is the one where Peter goes to great lengths to perform the last rites for a dying citizen. There's some cute comedy of errors with Clifford rushing around to try to find a means of transportation, but some legitimate heft when Assumpta questions what difference it would make if he'd shown up ten minutes earlier, and Peter's response that it would matter to the deceased man's wife. I don't expect Assumpta to have some presto-chango conversion or anything, but I like the scene as a bridge to her seeing some good in Peter himself, apart from the church he represents.
At the same time, his dealing with the young couple that wants to move in together is a tidy little story that does a good job of establishing Peter as not doctrinaire but not naive either. I like the idea of a storyline about a priest confronting modern romantic sensibilities and having to reconcile them with his faith and with his teachings, and the small-town colorfulness of the characters makes it fun.
The high-tech confessional story is a little cheesy in a Brian Quigley-qua-Mr. Burns sort of way. Again, it's a sign of the modern world trespassing on old traditions and that's a rich crossroads, but the whole idea seems to be setting up a kind of trite conflict and the execution of it is fairly broad, if worth a few chuckles around the margins.
All-in-all, it was a nice introduction to the series's setting and characters, and sets up some interesting potential stories and character interactions for down the road.
