BRAINDEAD Smart

Article first published as BRAINDEAD Review on Seat42F.

From the creators of The Good Wife, Robert and Michelle King, comes a new summer drama (sort of) series, BRAINDEAD, premiering tonight. Set in modern-day, partisanship-paralyzed Washington D.C., it follows a group of people connected to the government, some of whom begin to suspect that all of this chaos is not completely on the fault of the humans. Or, there is an alien race who is beginning to take advantage of our mess for their own gains. No, it’s not a documentary, it is fiction, though there will be plenty who wish reality was so easily explained and fixed.

The protagonist is Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Mercy Street, 10 Cloverfield Lane), a kind-hearted, student loan-strapped documentarian who would like to stay far, far away from the nation’s capital and those who populate it. A relatable outsider, she is not trusted by those in power because they don’t think she knows their world. And, they’re sort of right.

Laurel has been semi-forced to relocate to D.C. by her father (Zach Grenier, The Good Wife), who says he will fund her stalled film if she gives him six months working for her brother, Democrat minority whip Luke Healy (Danny Pino, Law & Order: SVU). Laurel is willing to sell out some of her principles, though not keep her mouth shut, for such a bribe, and so she gets to work helping Luke’s constituents.

It takes almost no time at all for Laurel to get drawn into the mystery, though, when one of the voters complains of her husband acting strange. Before the pilot comes to a close, the husband isn’t the only one, and viewers are let in on exactly what’s going on, even if Laurel is still working the long road of clues towards the bad guys (and eventually the solution).

BRAINDEAD is populated with a terrific cast, from the three mentioned above, to Aaron Tveit (Graceland, Les Miserables) as a Republican Congressional aide whom clashes with Laurel, to the handsome investigator (Charlie Semine, Mercy), to Megan Hilty (Smash) in a small role as a newscaster, to the cherry on top, Tony Shalhoub (Monk, Nurse Jackie, Wings), as a mind-controlled senator. Each play comedy well, especially when it comes to characters who aren’t trying to be funny, but Shalhoub also excels at the intentional stuff.

You see, BRAINDEAD is billed as a humorous thriller, and I think that description is apt. There’s the very dark situation that is sweeping across the nation’s capital, but there are over-the-top humorous moments, as well as some more subtle political commentary, that keep things entertaining and without too heavy a tone. It has the feeling of those 1990s movies where the world is in silly danger, but with a higher quality writing and a production that takes itself more seriously, in a good way.

There’s a lot going on, with about half the main characters not even appearing in the first episode. This is good because I think it’s satisfying to see different sides of a situation like this, as there are many facets of what is happening. The entire run is set for thirteen episodes, which is a lot to fill, but despite the fast pace of episode one, I feel the Kings can probably do it well. (And their touted multi-season plan gives me confidence they have a good strategy.)

Still, there does seem to be something missing. I mean, I really enjoyed the pilot and am setting a season pass on my TiVo immediately, but there is still a little hollowness to the hour. I’m not quite sure what is causing it yet, and further hours will likely either illuminate or erase it. But it just feels a couple notches below The Good Wife, in my opinion, lacking quite the sharpness of wit present in the dialogue of that just-concluded series.

BRAINDEAD airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

Burn Notice "Eyes Open"

     Normally, USA's Burn Notice delivers fantastic finales, but disappoints on openers.  With the two-part season format, it gets two chances at each every year.  This past Thursday, the second half of season premiered with "Eyes Open".  Coming less than three months after the first batch of episodes, half is really a misnomer, as this run will be much shorter.  That's a shame, because this episode was remarkably better than most of the show's previous premieres.

     I like Burn Notice best when it focuses on Michael's (Jeffrey Donovan) efforts to get his name cleared, rather than on the case of the week format the TV shows feel they need to follow to get viewers (sadly, this is probably true).  "Eyes Open" found a middle ground, with a case of the week that tied into past plots, and allowed a little more depth.  Plus, it was a hell of a story.

     Michael's sleazy lawyer client from August's finale (Danny Pino, Cold Case) is bent on revenge against the people who kidnapped his child.  He hires a bomb maker named Dennis (James Ransone, The Wire, Generation Kill) to take them out.  But Dennis is a little crazy, thinking that it is his duty to rid the world of bad guys, and not minding if some collatoral damage, a.k.a. innocent lives, is lost in that mission.  Michael decides that he must put a stop to Dennis.

     Poor Michael is still recovering from injuries sustained in the finale, and isn't able to get away when Dennis comes home while Michael is breaking into his house.  Pretending to be a huge fan of Dennis's work, Michael tries to get in with the bombmaker, learning that his devices are incredibly unstable, and that some have already gone out.  Michael is eventually able to figure out where the bombs are and stop the destruction, of course.

     What might be the most intersting part of the episode, though, was Jesse's (Coby Bell) growth.  Feeling betrayed by Michael and company after he discovered that they accidentally burned him, Jesse was the one who shot Michael, albiet in the way that saved his life.  Jesse agrees to help Michael recover a list of people involved in Michael's burning, but only to bring criminals to justice, not to help Michael.  The dark turn, though, comes when Dennis is trapped in a house, surrounded by police, carrying one of his unstable bombs.  Rather than risk any innocent lives as cop go in after Dennis, Jesse triggers to bomb, killing Dennis and blowing up the house, but protecting any innocent bystanders.

    The shock on Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and Sam's (Bruce Campbell) faces as Jesse blew up the house mirrored my reaction precisely.  What has happened to Jesse that he is willing to kill, even if it is a criminal?  Michael, Fiona, and Sam would not have chosen that option, at least not lightly and without discussion.  Jesse did it so casually, it was shocking.  What will the new Jesse mean to Michael's crew as the end of the season plays out?

     Besides the current run of episodes, Burn Notice was already had two more seasons ordered, so whatever happens, Michael Weston isn't going away anytime soon.  Tune into new episodes Thursday nights at 10pm on USA.

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