Take a Boat to HIGHTOWN

Article first published as TV Review: HIGHTOWN on Seat42F.

Starz’s most recent drama is HIGHTOWN. Jackie Quiñones is a National Marine Fisheries Service agent, loves to party hard and hook up, both things easy to come by in Provincetown, Massachusetts, a gay-friendly tourist town. But when she finds a dead body, and lets her vices take a little too much control, she ends up battling demons both inside and out.

Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire) stars as Jackie, and could not be a more compelling lead. Jackie’s behavior is abhorrent, but Monica finds the humanity and sympathy, as well as the driving motivations. It’s easy to see why Jackie’s partner, Ed Murphy (Mike Pniewski, Madam Secretary), likes her, and viewers will, too. Despite her substance abuse and womanizing ways, she seems to be a good person who cares about people and isn’t too strict on the rules, seeing the humanity in others. Though, she doesn’t seem to see it in her sexual conquests. The murder victim forces Monica to examine herself, and the audience gets the privilege of watching that introspective character arc.

Obviously, an antihero is nothing new. But there are many types of them, and Jackie feels fresh. It’s not just the fact that she’s not white, straight, or male, though that’s certainly welcome. It’s that her outlook feels a little different than most of the others I’ve seen, her attitudes being realistic and relatable as present. Aside from one big action-related thing, Jackie seems pretty darn authentic. Her pain seems real.

There is a great supporting cast that fills out Jackie’s world and plays varying roles, all of which will surely come together, even if it’s not obvious how right away. Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) is a kingpin behind bars who is still pulling the strings outside. Riley Voelkel (The Originals) is his exotic dancing girlfriend who is much more capable than she first appears. James Badge Dale (The Pacific) is a police detective who takes his job a little too personally. The three of them are introduced in the same thread in the pilot, but I’m eager to see Jackie interact with them.

The setting is great, with the beauty of Cape Cod and the ocean grounded in grimy reality, a place both lovely and dirty. Much of the series was filmed on location, and it shows. It helps to move a show away from Hollywood and to somewhere more visually interesting, or at least diverse in its look, and HIGHTOWN looks great. I hope more productions keep up this trend of getting away from Southern California, a vista we’ve seen enough of for awhile.

HIGHTOWN is also well-written. I don’t want to give too high praise to a series just getting started, and I’ve only seen the first episode. But immediately, I drew comparisons in tone and style to The Wire Season 2 (which I also happen to be finally watching right now). I’m not going claim HIGHTOWN is as good as The Wire, but the fact that it didn’t suffer for the comparison says something.

The murder and drug plots are far from novel, making up a large percentage of television programming today. I review a lot of these cable or streaming pilots with similar goals and themes, and haven’t been taken in by very many of them. However, there’s a magnetism to HIGHTOWN greater than the sum of its laudable parts, and I found I had a hard time resisting its call. I hadn’t planned to renew my Starz subscription again until Outlander returns for another season, but I’m curious enough about the rest of this one to go ahead and give it a binge.

Check out HIGHTOWN on Starz now.

CHICAGO PD Rescues Crime Genre From Procedural

Article first published as CHICAGO P.D. Review on Seat42F.

For those of you who read my reviews even semi-regularly, you likely know that I am against procedural dramas, and have often railed at the overstuffed crime genre. So it may surprise you to learn that I enjoy NBC’s CHICAGO P.D. A lot, and am looking forward to watching it on a regular basis.

CHICAGO P.D. is a spin-off of Chicago Fire, and features several recurring characters from the mother ship, now in a main cast member role. Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Behge), Detective Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda), and Detective Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) are already very familiar to viewers, having appeared in sizable arcs and many installments. Other cops that were in Chicago Fire only once or twice are included, too, although not every police officer in that series is in CHICAGO PD. In fact, some people set up for this spin-off are no longer involved, which one doesn’t really notice because the cast that is present is full and enjoyable.

Besides those mentioned above, the pilot introduces us to Detective Erin Lindsay (Sophia Bush, One Tree Hill), who has a past with Voight, Adam Ruzak (Patrick John Flueger, The 4400), an eager newcomer, Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas, The Killing), who can get things done, Officer Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati, Gossip Girl), who may not be as much of a pushover as she first seems, Sheldon Jin (Archie Kao, CSI), the tech guy, and others.

Like Chicago Fire, CHICAGO P.D. is must more focused on the characters than the crimes, which is the key thing that sets it apart from its peers, and the main reason I am tuning in. The first episode immediately sets about fleshing out all of the people above (plus other characters), giving them varied personalities and backgrounds. These should clash in interesting ways as the series goes on.

CHICAGO P.D. is not quite a soapy as Chicago Fire (which my wife fittingly refers to as Grey’s Anatomy: Firefighter Style). In the initial hour, there is a major crime lord who the good guys are after. But while he is being hunted, there are lots of great interactions between characters, setting up the overall dynamic, and these overwhelm connecting clues in screen time. It’s this mixture that is so important to making the show interesting.

The Intelligence team is bound to be one rife with drama. We know Voight crosses the line a lot, and may just be evil. Even if you haven’t watched Chicago Fire, that much is evident right away. And we know Antonio is a good guy, someone concerned with what is right, and a man who is not afraid to stand up to those who are selfish or crooked. Add a bunch of other ingredients to the mix, and it’s unlikely the main group will be stagnant, as is often the case in other cop shows.

There’s also an incredibly cool twist late in the episode that kind of sets the tone of what CHICAGO P.D. will be. It is a similar plot device to what Chicago Fire had in its pilot, but carried out in a different manner to make an even bigger impact, and one sure to have lasting consequences. In fact, I dare predict that this show will have many long arcs, and a criminal will not be brought to justice every week. At least, that’s the hope, and the early signs are good.

If you are a Chicago Fire fan, the connections are present very strongly in the pilot, which should help CHICAGO P.D. retain the same audience, at minimum. Gabriela (Monica Raymund) is there, of course, being Antonio’s sister, but so are Shay (Lauren German), Otis (Yuri Sardarov), and Hermann (David Eigenberg), as well as Molly’s, the bar. I hope more of these cross overs occur frequently, since both series are set in the same place and time, giving more opportunity for such things than other spin-offs usually have.

In short, the first hour is excellent. It’s got enticing performances, a terrific cast, and an interesting story, with hints of good things to come. CHICAGO P.D. premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

I like CHICAGO FIRE "In My Face"

Article first published as I like CHICAGO FIRE "In My Face" on TheTVKing.

Just ahead of its spinoff debut, NBC's Chicago Fire returns for the back half of its second season with "Shoved in My Face." Some time has passed since the fall finale, though how much is not clear. As the episode begins, Casey (Jesse Spencer) is able to resume work, healed from the incident. But has he fully recovered?

Casey is one of the most central players, so fans had to have known he wasn't dead, despite the cliffhanger we were left on. However, some might not expect the consequences of the injuries. Casey seems fine to most of his friends, but there's something a little off and unstable about him that begins to rear its head.

For most jobs, making mistakes is no big deal. For a firefighter, where lives are on the line every day, this isn't good. Mouch (Christian Stolte), who witnesses the danger Casey poses first hand, hasn't told on Casey yet, out of loyalty, but if Casey doesn't figure out how to fix the problem, there will be further ramifications, and none of them will be good.

Casey is trying to move on by asking Dawson (Monica Raymund) to live with him. It's about time the two were officially an item. They dance around each other for a season and a half before this comes about, and viewers and characters alike are happy that they have gotten together. But it's not a good sign that Casey isn't even confiding his issues with Dawson, beginning their relationship on a rocky path.

Dawson can be forgiven for not hounding Casey too hard about how he's feeling as she's now quite busy as a cadet in the firefighter school. She doesn't have the easiest start to classes, especially when she is around 51, as her instinct is to act like a member of the team. There will definitely be some adjustment time for her to step back and move away. But that should only be temporary, so it's all good.

Shay (Lauren German) also has to adjust to the new arrangement, as a new woman, Allison Rafferty (Christine Evangelista, Lucky 7), takes over Dawson's spot as Shay's partner and boss. This dynamic is very shaky at first, and there's a point in "Shoved in My Face" where it doesn't look like things are going to work out. Then Shay breaks through the new woman's armor, and they seem to get along.

Rafferty comes across as a homophobe initially. She says she has no problems with lesbians, she just doesn't want the behavior shoved in her face. This is usually an excuse for those who are small-minded and trying not to appear as full of gross hate as they are. In this particular case, though, it looks like one person just did over share with Rafferty, and while its unfair to employ stereotyping, Rafferty doesn't really appear to be a bigot at her core. Thank goodness!

There's plenty of conflict without bringing a jerk into the firehouse. Molly's might be lost, as Otis (Yuri Sardarov) and Herrmann (David Eigenberg) learn about a lien on the building, Mills (Charlie Barnett) has to push Clarke (Jeff Hephner) to stop protecting his gal from a serious crime, and Severide's (Taylor Kinney) teaching career starts off bad when he tries to kick out the daughter of one of the brass, Rebecca Jones (Daisy Betts, Last Resort). That's quite enough without more discord creeping in.

Of course, there are good things in "Shoved in My Face," too. Mills is finally accepted into Squad 3, Otis has a love connection with Severide's sister, Katie (Brittany Curran), Antonio (Jon Seda) finds evidence that could clear Clarke, and most of the main characters are getting along with one another, no internal spats disrupting the tone of the house right now. That's a relief.

Chicago Fire is a prime time soap opera, along the lines of Grey's Anatomy, so the personal drama will always be a focus. But that doesn't mean everyone has to be at everyone's throats all the time, and the shift in "Shoved in My Face," from internal conflict to external, is one that will hopefully stick around for awhile.

Chicago Fire airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, and the spin-off, Chicago PD, well worth watching, premieres tonight at 10 p.m. EST.