Infrastructure Work Needed for BRIDGE AND TUNNEL

 Article first published as TV Review: BRIDGE AND TUNNEL on Seat42F.

Epix recently premiered the new series BRIDGE AND TUNNEL. Set in Long Island in 1980, it follows a group of six friends who have just graduated college and are on the verge of moving onto the next stage of their lives. However, when they all come home for a summer break and to reconnect, their lives quickly become entwined again. Will they give up their futures to pursue the past? Or will this be a final fling before they move on into adulthood?

To be honest, I didn’t find the premise of BRIDGE AND TUNNEL all that realistic. All six members of this friend group had free time after college? None of them went straight into jobs? Was that how it was back in 1980, that adulthood didn’t start until you had one last summer break? This seems more like the circumstances of a post-high school summer, though the stakes are painted as quite a bit higher. It makes sense for the two characters waiting to go onto more studies, but not the others.

The idea that romance could derail a career, even a dream job, is more believable. We meet Jimmy (Sam Vartholomeos, Star Trek: Discovery) and Jill (Caitlin Stasey, Reign) as they hook up in the bathroom of their favorite local bar. Their friends gossip about them as they wait for their return, but the couple has other ideas, sneaking out so they can keep having sex. They are in love, but one is more committed than the other. Or perhaps, you could say one is more realistic about why a long-term relationship won’t work. Jimmy is heading to Alaska to take pictures for National Geographic, while Jill is a city girl.

BRIDGE AND TUNNEL does a good job of showing the pain of love that isn’t practical. Movies and television shows often subscribe to the “love conquers all” premise, and while it’s not unheard of to go in a different direction, it’s still appreciated when a series does. Their time is limited, and that misery hangs over any time they spend together. It might be smarter to stay away, even if they can’t seem to do so.

The other four characters are less developed. Stacey (Isabella Farrell, Fluidity) and Mikey (Jan Luis Castellanos, 13 Reasons Why) are full of lust for one another, but they don’t pretend it’s anything more than physical attraction. And while at least one of them has a significant other somewhere else, which doesn’t stop them, it doesn’t seem completely immoral, either, or at least not any more so than their previous teen non-relationship was. Pags (Brian Muller, The Deuce) would like to pair up with the remaining girl in the group, Tammy (Gigi Zumbado, Pitch Perfect 2), but she’s more interested in waiting for her turn with Mikey, who hasn’t seem to have noticed her in that way.

Series creator, writer, and director Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan, Public Morals) is also acting in the show as Jimmy’s father, Artie. He seems to be the type of man that isn’t interesting in showing his emotion, but is interested in his son’s life. He finds ways to communicate that are traditionally masculine while still being involved.

BRIDGE AND TUNNEL is almost a fantasy series, because of the unlikely premise, even if the characters are realistic enough. Still, this isn’t exactly a fresh idea, and I’m not sure it needed to be done again. If it’s personal to the creator, I would understand why he’d want to make it. It’s fun and colorful enough to be entertaining. But I wouldn’t expect this to qualify for prestige or must-see television without better fleshing out the world and tying it to reality.

The first episode of BRIDGE AND TUNNEL is available free on Amazon Prime, and further episodes will air Sundays on Epix.

PUBLIC MORALS Cartoonish, But Good

Article originally published as PUBLIC MORALS Review on Seat42F.
 

TNT goes in a bit of a different direction with PUBLIC MORALS. A 1960s-set crime drama from Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan, The Brothers McMullen), it tells the tale of cops and robbers in New York City. It’s the Mad Men era, but this is the other side of the tracks, those lower income people who think the laws are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Does the series work?

Well, at first I was taken aback by the style. It’s very specific and consistent, but comes across as cartoonish. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, though. After watching the pilot, it is clear that the characters and plot are in this same vein, so the costumes and set decoration match the tone that the series is going for well. While PUBLIC MORALS is a hyper reality, no one ever said every TV show must be totally grounded.

The main reason I quickly got over my hesitation and embraced PUBLIC MORALS is because of the cast. Burns not only writes and directs, but stars as Terry Muldoon, who isn’t in charge, but is definitely the most defined force in this world, feeling totally authentic for the piece. Burns has surrounded himself with an excellent ensemble including Michael Rapaport (Justified), Robert Knepper (Prison Break), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Castle), Neal McDonough (Desperate Housewives), Brian Dennehy (First Blood), Elizabeth Masucci (Shame), Timothy Hutton (Leverage), Wass Stevens (The Wrestler), Katrina Bowden (30 Rock), and more. Many of these supporting players are doing some of the best work I’ve ever seen from them, and those that already have impressive resumes feel like they get this project and meld in seamlessly.

Together, they create a complex world that thrives on shades of gray. As Burns says to his son, the line between hero and asshole is a thin one, with the cops substituting the letter of the law for their own moral code, and working hand in hand with the bad guys when the bad guys stay in line. There are a number of differing relationships between the characters, and PUBLIC MORALS does a good job of painting its reality in just that first hour.

Once introduced to the status quo, the show also spends little time upheaving it. A new officer joins the plain clothes force, and it’s hard to tell if he’s going to be on board with their schemes or a hindrance. Someone who seems like a main character in this initial installment is killed off at the end, which will surely shake up several of the other players and provide a driving force through the season.

PUBLIC MORALS isn’t as brilliantly groundbreaking or as beautifully artistic of many of the cable shows on the air, and it feels a bit strange to be praising it, as those high-quality, original dramas make up much of what I gravitate towards. TNT doesn’t really have any of those, so that’s not surprising. Not everything that happens is realistic, and while some of the story is a slow boil, there’s a lot of fast talking and bits of action, too, so it never gets boring. True Detective or The Killing, this is not.

However, the program knows what it is and makes the best example of the genre that it can, and there’s a lot to be said for that. When coupled with magnetic personalities that suck the viewer right into the world, I find little to complain about. Honestly, I went into this expecting little, and now plan on setting a season pass on my TiVo because I really want to find out what happens next. That’s just about all I can ask for from a pilot, and I look forward to seeing what they do with the rest of the season.

PUBLIC MORALS premieres Tuesday, August 25^th at 10 p.m. ET on TNT.

MOB CITY a Dark, Intriguing Place

Article first published as MOB CITY a Dark, Intriguing Place on TheTVKing.

Not long after AMC kicked showrunner Frank Darabont off of The Walking Dead, a show he developed, rumors swirled that he would make a television comeback. For fans of the zombie series or the movies Darabont has made, which include greats like The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, it's with great satisfaction that we tune into his newest creation, Mob City, which premiered this week on TNT.

Like The Walking Dead, Mob City is an experiment. Six episodes are being produced for the first season as TNT tests the waters with something totally unlike its normal slate. Mob City is a period piece, mostly set in the late 1940s with flashbacks to earlier times, that explores the world of crime in Los Angeles. It's a serial drama, weaving many characters together with interesting, twisty plots. It's also done a bit in the noir style, which you don't see a lot of on television today.

Overall, I'd say this experiment works. The first two instllaments (the initial season will air over three weeks in two hour blocks) are very good, introducing us to characters who we quickly come to care about, but aren't always sure of their motivations. There's a healthy level of mystery to the plot that will draw viewers in, even before they decide if they like the program or not.

Mob City is a little slow-paced, but not as much as, say, Boardwalk Empire, another period piece that does decently well over on HBO. There are a few shootouts and dead bodies in the first night alone, with more to come. The danger and threat level, especially for a limited show, is relatively high, even if several of the main characters are based on real people whose ending may be known. At least those historical figures aren't so famous that everyone knows their tale before the show can tell it.

The cast is truly excellent. Darabont keeps a few of his Walking Dead buddies, with Jon Bernthal playing the lead, Joe Teague, a mostly-good cop who has connections to the mob world, Jeffrey DeMunn as Hal Morrison, head of the task force tracking the mob, and Andrew Rothenberg in a recurring part working for Hal. Robert Knepper (Prison Break, Heroes) does what he does best, playing demented villain, while Gregory Itzin (Covert Affairs, 24) tackles a familiar part as a crooked politician. Neal McDonough (Justified, Desperate Housewives) proves he can do hero as well as he has done bad guy in the past, and Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes, Gilmore Girls) meshes well as Joe's war buddy, now working for the other side.

Believe it or not, while those are the most familiar faces to me, that isn't even all of the wonderful actors starring in this show. Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan) and Jeremy Luke (Don Jon) play infamous mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen, respectively. Alexa Davalos (Reunion, Angel) is perfect as the token girl in the cast, a strong woman who tempts Joe to cross the line. Jeremy Strong (Zero Dark Thirty), Mekia Cox (Undercovers), Mike Hagerty (Wayne's World), Daniel Roebuck (Lost), Ernie Hudson (Ghost Busters), and comedian Dana Gould also have recurring roles. With such a deep bench, all of them fantastic, there will be no shortage of wonderful character moments, even after a few of them tragically die.

In the first episode, Joe is approached by a stand up comedian named Hecky Nash (Simon Pegg, Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek), who wants Joe to protect him as he tries to blackmail the mob. Joe agrees, but upon learning a key thing about Hecky, which I won't spoil because it takes awhile to come out, turns on him, a fact Joe is not able to reveal to his bosses, even as he tells them everything else. Yet, Joe isn't about to get himself onto the mob's payroll, and they don't appreciate his refusal, thus beginning a delicate dance between the two sides, with Joe in the middle.

I really like the flashback stuff. In episode one, we see the origins of Bugsy and Sid. While their scene doesn't really inform too much in the present storyline, it is pretty cool. Better, the second hour gives us insight into McDonough's William H. Parker, which is much more relevant. Taking that break, giving us the back story, is useful when used sparingly in this manner.

Now, there are a few gratuitous scenes. The aforementioned opening to the pilot, "A Guy Walks Into a Bar," involves some violins and a baby carriage that make the moment memorable, but don't necessarily scream realism. Later, there's a bit with Sid in a confessional booth at a church that seems purposely designed to shock and offend. Maybe these aren't necessary, but they do put off a tone and style that will set Mob City apart, and do fit the comic book-noir mashup that seems to be happening.

Overall, I really enjoyed the first two episodes, and I look forward to seeing what Darabont and his highly talented team will do with the rest. It's definitely already the best series on TNT. Mob City airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.