Rescue 9-1-1

Article first published as TV Review: 9-1-1 on Seat42F.

Before watching, one can be forgiven for dismissing the new FOX series, 9-1-1, as a typical procedural. After all, it stars firemen, police women, and EMTs, and the people they help don’t carry over from week to week. But there is a lot more to it than that, even if it’s hard to define exactly what the quality is that it exudes. Let’s try to break it down, shall we?

First, there’re the brains behind 9-1-1: Ryan Murphy, Brad Fulchuk, and Tim Minear. These guys are known for a variety of high-quality cable shows in recent years, most notably American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Feud. Given those credits, it’s hard to believe they would deliver anything at all close to a run-of-the-mill, case-of-the-week series. And they do not.

The next clue that this will be better than usual are the actors who signed up. Angela Bassett (American Horror Story, Olympus Has Fallen) is Athena Grant, the main police person we see in the cast. Peter Krause (Parenthood) is Bobby Nash, the fire captain. Kenneth Choi (Sons of Anarchy, Last Man on Earth), Aisha Hinds (Underground, Dollhouse), and Oliver Stark (Into the Badlands) all play characters who work for Bobby. Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights, Nashville) is a 9-1-1 operator named Abby Clark serving as go-between for all of these people, making it a rounded series. While it’s true that none of them have spotless resumes, to have so many great performers in one series says something.

The premise itself does feel a bit formulaic when described. In the pilot alone, the characters respond to several calls for help, and deal with the issues. One of the ensemble gets in trouble at work for acting inappropriately, one is a recovering alcoholic, and Athena is dealing with marital issues with husband Michael (Rockmond Dunbar, Prison Break). None of these things sound like they belong to a new, promising show.

However, there is something more to 9-1-1 that transcends the formula. It’s an ineffable element that is hard to define completely. The best way I can describe it is that there is an urgency, a pacing and tone, that belongs on a high-quality cable show, and feels very out of place on a broadcast network. No scene comes across as cheesy, everything is done with sincerity, and when paired with the performing talent, it rises above the sum of its parts.

The primary thing I can say is that numerous bits of the pilot moved me deep in my gut. I welled up, but not in the way This Is Us makes me. I experienced adrenaline rushes, but not as I do when watching 24. I was scared, but not like a bad slasher flick evokes. I really felt the emotions the characters were feeling, and I have to say, that is quite a feat to do in an hour procedural, let alone multiple times. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but having just reviewed a terrible show right before it, I don’t think so.

Some will dismiss this assertion and find it ridiculous. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and I’ve already seen some negative reviews of 9-1-1. But I loathe crime procedurals and watch far too much TV to think I haven’t become desensitized. What I can tell you is that this one feels different. This one makes me eager to watch more. It might be the best show FOX has aired in years, and I don’t think that’s making a questionable boast. This is what a procedural should be, the best of its genre.

9-1-1 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on FOX.

Back UNDERGROUND

Article first published UNDERGROUND Season 2 Premiere Review on Seat42F.

WGN America’s UNDERGROUND begins its second season this week. Starting about five months after the freshman run’s finale, we quickly pick up the stories of most of our characters, more or less where we left them. Time has passed, but it’s been relatively uneventful. Something tells me, after watching the first episode, that that won’t be the case for very much longer.

UNDERGROUND is interesting to me because it’s not obvious at first who the leads are in the first year. There is a large ensemble full of talented performers, and while many of them are removed as the story progresses, there are still more important roles than the five who are listed as the primary cast, which includes only Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Noah (Aldis Hodge), Elizabeth (Jessica De Gouw), Cato (Alano Miller), and August (Christopher Meloni).

Thankfully, the show has been successful enough to expand that ensemble in season two. The most important of the four new leads is Ernestine (Amirah Vann), Rosalee’s mother, who always had her own plot arc, but now is officially among the principal players. UNDERGROUND season two has also added characters named Georgia (Jasika Nicole, Fringe), Clara (DeWanda Wise, Shots Fired), and Harriet (Aisha Hinds, Under the Dome, If I Stay).

Harriet, as in Harriet Tubman. Clearly a recast from the brief shot of the legendary figure from last year’s finale, it’s kind of cool that she is now part of the group. Previously, I’d worried that adding someone with such name recognition might distract from the core narrative. However, after checking out the start of season two, I don’t think that will be the case.

UNDERGROUND remains focused on the stories of the characters from year one. While Rosalee, Noah, and Elizabeth were just dipping their toe into the secret movement to free the slaves, they’re now larger players in the game, so it makes sense they’d come across Harriet. Harriet doesn’t get any more precedence than the others, less than the returning main players, so she’s an interesting element that signals our players have gotten deeper into the action, rather than a shift to a new direction.

We’ve also got some new locations. Most notably, Ernestine has left Macon Plantation and is (sort of) settling into a very different type of community. Between that and the scenes in Ohio and Canada, we begin to get a fuller picture of different parts of the United States, all of which were affected by the slave industry and those who opposed it.

There are some terrific surprises, too. As with the first year, audiences may think they know where things are heading, only to have the rug yanked out from under them by the unexpected. This is a sign of good storytelling, and an example of how UNDERGROUND roots itself in reality. While there are some fantastical coincidences and run-ins, for the most part the series keeps viewers on their toes in an authentic manner, and there’s at least one big twist in the initial return that leaves me wanting to jump right into the next episode.

Not everyone you expect to see is in the second year’s premiere. There is a lot going on in UNDERGROUND, so it doesn’t feel empty that some faces may have to wait a week for us to catch up with them. Instead, it’s a busy, satisfying hour, and I’d rather a few people take this installment off than force hokey subplots to include them.

In all, I’d rate the premiere pretty high, accomplishing what it needs to accomplish, building the established world larger, and still maintain the things that makes this show compelling. UNDERGROUND returns Wednesday at 10/9c on WGN America.

You might be tempted to join this CULT

Article first published as CULT Series Premiere Review at Seat42F.

Grade: 88%

As the CW’s new pilot of CULT, entitled “You’re Next,” begins, Detective Kelly Collins (Alona Tal, Supernatural) searches for her missing sister, whom was last seen in the company of cult leader Billy Grimm (Robert Knepper, Heroes, Prison Break). Kelly thinks Billy has taken her little sis to strike a blow against Kelly personally, since she also used to follow Billy, and he didn’t take her leaving well.

So CULT is a crime drama then, with the heroes having to do battle against a mysterious sect that brainwashes their followers and makes them disappear?

Not even close. Instead, the version of CULT that stars Kelly is a series called CULT that exists within the world of CULT, both of which air on the CW. And Billy, while just an actor named Roger Reeves, also pops up everywhere in the real world, presumably mostly in advertisements for the show, layering the same level of creepy that he has done on screen, until one is convinced he may be connected to actual crimes. Confused yet?

Well, that’s not even the half of it. Former reporter Jeff Sefton (Matthew Davis, The Vampire Diaries) is looking for his own brother, Nate (James Pizzinato, Alcatraz), whom has gone off the grid in a large and bloody way, and, get this, Nate is a super fan of the CULT within a CULT. All of the clues Jeff finds point to the fact that the show is more than just a show, and there are shady people out there who take the whole thing very, very seriously.

Plus, both the fictional and real CULT bear the same title and ending cards.

CULT is the epitome of meta in an internet age where meta is the trend. The makers of CULT are hoping that real life fans get involved in the show, though hopefully not in a criminal way, as the fans in the show do, and make this part of their lives. Every word supposedly means something, every scene contains a clue, and an intricate web of mystery is being spun. This is pounded in viewers’ heads so fervently that there is no way to miss the point.

Now, this is the CW, so there are limits into what CULT will do. However, given that the cast isn’t dominated by a bunch of teenagers, romance is barely a whisper in “You’re Next,” and the writing in the first episode seems smart and tied together, this could just be something different that broadens the network’s appeal.

Obviously, the CW is hoping to capture the same population segment who enjoy The Vampire Diaries and other supernatural dramas, even reusing performers from their other franchises. But they are also building something special, something that could itself garner a cult following, and something that might make a splash in the television landscape.

One example of what I am talking about is when, late in the hour, we learn that Jeff is fired from his job at a reputable newspaper because he fabricated a source for a story. This means that Jeff is not a reliable witness, and thus, even viewers may doubt his sincerity and motivations. It’s a nice twist that could keep the direction of the plot shrouded in darkness. But instead of embracing it full on, the show has a character named Skye (Jessica Lucas, Melrose Place, Cloverfield) who believes in Jeff, and thus, we believe in him, too.

Skye works for the network, which gives the series an excuse to venture on set frequently. She is a lowly researcher, though, so her position is expendable, and she can miss work for periods of time without arousing suspicion. It’s a good role to cast her in, someone who has reason to be suspicious about the real-life following, who is open to conspiracy theories, and who has a believable inside track.

While CULT only boasts four main characters, there are a myriad of other players, such as: Marc Segal (Andrew Leeds, Bones), a network executive who wants to help CULT blow up; Kirstie (Marie Avgeropoulos, The Inbetweeners), an apparent cult member who arranges for Marc’s kidnapping; Detective Sakelik (Aisha Hinds, True Blood), the cop assigned to Nate’s disappearance, and who has a tattoo that might connect her to the villains; and Gary Fisher (Tom Amandes, Parenthood, Eli Stone), who works for CULT and dismisses Skye’s concerns out of hand.

What this means is there are a lot of different directions that the story can go, and keeping viewers guessing will be a main draw of CULT.

Only time will tell if CULT can pull off what they’re trying to do. The first episode is promising, but sustained surprises over time is much more difficult, and it’s unknown if it can maintain the quality. A great genre series is a marathon, not a sprint. But at least CULT is coming strong out of the gate.

CULT airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.