Article first published as LOW WINTER SUN Review on Seat42F.
AMC’s LOW WINTER SUN begins with the
murder of Detroit cop Brendan McCann (Michael McGrady, Ray Donovan) by
two of his fellow officers, who do their best to make the death look
like a suicide. Viewers are told that McCann is an alcoholic, corrupt,
working with mobsters, and an all-around not-good guy. He deserves to
die, right?
Well, that’s not clear. LOW WINTER SUN
is all about shades of grey, with a character claiming early on that
morality is neither black and white. Said character, Detective Joe
Geddes (Lennie James, The Walking Dead, Jericho), who happens to be
Brendan’s partner, used to be in priest school, so he knows a thing or
two about right and wrong.
Yet, just doing what one should or
shouldn’t do isn’t enough, and everyone may have a different opinion on
whether they are working towards justice or not, and how far one should
go.
LOW WINTER SUN asks us to forget about a
style of storytelling where we know what’s going on and just pay
attention to the characters. What each person says and does may be much
more telling than how the plot unfolds, and it presents a world where
right and wrong are relative, as well as shifting from moment to moment.
The only certain rule in this complex drama is that the episodes will
be unpredictable, and we’re supposed to just take it all in, saving
figuring things out and making our judgments for later.
Of course, every television show needs
an access point where viewers can connect with the world being
presented. LOW WINTER SUN’s main protagonist is Frank Agnew (Mark
Strong, reprising the role from the British miniseries on which this
show is based). Frank is the mastermind behind Brendan’s death,
convinced by Joe that killing Brendan is the right thing, and that
Brendan may have hacked up Frank’s love. Thusly, Frank is introduced as a
hero, a man acting for the right reasons.
Frank and Joe’s alliance quickly falls
apart. Joe may or may not have been up front with Frank, meaning Frank
can’t trust his accomplice. Joe could be dirty, like Brendan, or could
be lying about Frank’s girl. He may just be a smooth talker, or he may
have yet-to-be-revealed reasons for wanting Frank dead. There’s a lot of
ambiguity here, which James plays brilliantly.
Which is a hallmark of the rest of the
series, too. Characters know different things at different times, and
have their own motivations. These are well-defined individuals, which
means their interactions are complicated and layered. Just as people can
be deceptive in real life, so, too, can the players in LOW WINTER SUN,
which makes it hard to accept what plays out on screen at face value.
This is a plus for the show.
Things get more complicated when
Internal Affairs agent Simon Boyd (David Costabile, Breaking Bad, Suits,
Damages) shows up to look into Brendan. Simon arrives before Brendan’s
body is found, but Simon is very interested in not only what happened to
Brendan, but what the implications are. He is the type of man to keep
things close to the vest and goad his subjects or not, as the need
arises, driving everyone crazy very quickly. He is definitely
intelligent enough to eventually put the pieces together, but is he wise
enough to balance that information and the law with reality and
judgment? Costabile is the perfect man for this difficult, juicy role.
Simon isn’t the only one Frank needs to
worry about. A fellow officer, Khalil (Athena Karkanis, Wild Kratts), is
already taking note of Frank’s odd behavior, as Frank tries to keep
himself under control and not let doubt and guilt consume him. Frank’s
boss, Charles Dawson (Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Castle), cares more about
his career than his officers, tasking Frank with keeping Brendan from
damaging him, and would surely throw Frank under the bus if need be.
Frank is surrounded by people who might cause him trouble.
LOW WINTER SUN also takes time to
examine the criminal side of Detroit, the one in which Brendan was mixed
up in. There’s a wanna-be crime boss, Damon (James Ransone, Treme), his
wife, Maya (Sprague Grayden, 24, Sons of Anarchy), and their new
recruit, the psychologically damaged Nick Paflas (Billy Lush, The
Chicago Code), to round out the cast. This means that not only will the
show be giving us a very involved police presence, but also showing the
other side, too, which makes sense, given the cross-over component, with
villains and heroes working both sides of the line.
The result is an intriguing series that
should be well-accepted by AMC viewers, who expect an extremely high
quality to their programming, with characters and scripts not easily
digested, and installments that leave them with much to ponder and
debate. Despite its trappings of a crime drama, LOW WINTER SUN is so
much more, and should feel right at home with the network’s other fare.
LOW WINTER SUN airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on AMC.
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