On YOUR HONOR

 Article first published as TV Review: YOUR HONOR on Seat42F.

Bryan Cranston returns to television in Showtime’s new drama YOUR HONOR, which premiered last night. Cranston plays a respected judge named Michael Desiato who is kind-hearted and takes justice seriously, even investigating witness stories on his own sometimes. So when, on the anniversary of Michael’s wife’s death, his teenage son accidentally hits a boy on a motorcycle and kills him, Michael’s first instinct is to do the right thing and drive his son to the police station. But the identity of the victim changes the judge’s mind, and now he’s in a desperate attempt to coverup the crime.

Michael Desiato doesn’t seem anything like Cranston’s Breaking Bad character, Walter White, other than the love he has for his family, which Walt seemed to lose over time, but Michael probably won’t. If not for the exact specific circumstances surrounding the boy’s death, Michael would have tried his best to help his son, but through the proper legal channels. He wants to handle it above board, and that is noble, something not every parent could bring themselves to do when their child’s freedom is on the line. We get a chance to see who this character really is before things go down.

YOUR HONOR also follows Michael’s son, Adam (Hunter Doohan, Truth Be Told), during the incident, and his case is sympathetic. Grieving his lost mother, scared of a perceived threat of violence from others, and suffering an asthma attack, one can see how the wreck occurred while still remaining sympathetic to Adam. Even when the teen flees the scene and tries to get rid of evidence, it can be chalked up to panic and shock. Adam knows he must turn himself in, and doesn’t fight it when his father tells him so. In fact, Adam doesn’t seem to want to keep hiding the truth when Michael first decides they have no choice but to hide it. He seems like a good kid in tragic circumstances that made mistakes but will accept responsibility for them.

The twist is that the boy Adam hits and kills is the son of Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg, Boardwalk Empire), a notorious crime lord. And both Jimmy and his wife, Gina (Hope Davis, For the People), are determined to find the person who murdered their son. It is heavily implied they do not want justice so much as revenge, and should Adam turn himself in, he would likely be quickly murdered in jail. Hence Michael’s decision not to let his son be arrested, as much as that makes sense under any other circumstance.

Admittedly, the coincidences in YOUR HONOR pile up quickly. The story seems unrealistic because of just how much has to happen to set up the exact scenario described above. Recent real-life events over the past few years make even the most unlikely thing more believable, in my opinion, but there is a certain amount of “Really?” baked into the premise that will likely give some viewers pause, and as many negative reviews of this show have pointed out.

To me, I think Cranston is a phenomenal actor, and the rest of the cast is very talented, too. The story is interesting and compelling, and the character reactions are relatable. I thought the death scene got too gory, and perhaps Michael’s demonstration of principle early in the pilot was a bit heavy-handed, but other than that, I did enjoy it immensely. A plot twist another reviewer spoiled about Adam’s girlfriend, which will be revealed in an upcoming episode, does make me groan, but overall, I am deeply intrigued and plenty prepared to watch this series, which seems certain to just be a miniseries, rather than a years-long story. YOUR HONOR is not without flaws, but my impression of the initial installment is that it’s pretty good and worth a look.

If you want to decide for yourself, new episodes of YOUR HONOR air Sunday evenings on Showtime.

In the Shadow of THE LOOMING TOWER

Article first published as TV Review: THE LOOMING TOWER on Seat42F.

Hulu’s latest miniseries is THE LOOMING TOWER. Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Lawrence Wright, the ten episodes cover the lead up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Beginning in 1998, with some flashes to hearings well after the fact, we see both the FBI and CIA bungle up their own investigations while refusing to work together, telling the vital story of how Osama bin Laden may have been prevented from killing thousands, but wasn’t. It’s pretty good drama.

At the center of THE LOOMING TOWER is John O’Neill (Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom). He’s head of the FBI New York branch, and he has personal issues with just about everyone in his life. His subordinates seem to mostly respect him, but his bosses don’t, nor do the CIA officers he comes in contact with. Thankfully for O’Neill, Richard Clarke (Michael Stuhlbarg, Fargo) listens to him, but Clarke can only do so much. If O’Neill’s professional flaws aren’t enough for you, he has multiple girlfriends and a wife in various locales, so he’s a deeply flawed character.

Contrast that with Ali Soufan (Tahar Rahim, A Prophet), a more traditional hero. Ali may have joined the FBI on a dare, but he is totally committed to working under O’Neill and trusts the boss’ judgment. He doesn’t hesitate to drop personal matters at a moment’s notice when called upon to do his duty, and is only too eager to put himself into dangerous situations if he thinks he can do some good. O’Neill tempers Ali by looking at the bigger picture, but that’s about the only place where O’Neill is better.

Other than those two, most of the other characters are much smaller. From CIA antagonist Martin Schmidt (Peter Sarsgaard, The Killing), to Schmidt’s loyal underling, Diane Priest (Wrenn Schmidt, Outcast), to teacher Heather (Ella Rae Peck, Gossip Girl), to many others, THE LOOMING TOWER is stuffed full of players, each with their own story and agenda, most of them minor to the main plot. This makes sense for a dramatization of this nature, which surely has a lot of moving parts. And with ten episodes, the miniseries doesn’t need to stay too focused. Still, much of their scenes seem like fluff, rather than driving the story forward, even if the supporting characters are fully formed.

An exception to that is Robert Chesney (Bill Camp, The Night Of). Although his role as a member of O’Neill’s team is not a huge one, he has some very compelling scenes in the first couple of hours that really make him an interesting character.

THE LOOMING TOWER has the weight of an HBO-level miniseries, and is a strong contender come awards season. It has great performances and the heft of being mostly real. The production value and directions are of good quality, and its narrative is smart and cohesive.

Where it wavers for me a bit is the pacing. It feels like it’s balancing too much, and is weighed down by it. When certain characters are on screen, it flies beautifully. When they’re gone, or when we’re venturing into O’Neill’s romantic territory, it falters. I enjoyed the first two hours I watched and will likely watch more, but I can’t help but feel that a leaner series would have worked better. The time frame covered could have been extended if they still wanted to make the same number of episodes.

One thing I thought was pretty cool was that the World Trade Center towers are not glimpsed for quite awhile at the beginning. And the only shot of them in the first two installments is in the background, not a focus of anything happening. They loom over everything, but aren’t part of the story. Not yet, anyway.

Hulu has released three episodes of THE LOOMING TOWER, with more coming weekly.