APB To Viewers

Article first published as APR Review on Seat42F.

If you’ve read very many of my reviews, I’m sure you’ve noticed how hard I am on crime shows. I find most of them to be very formulaic and repetitive, telling the same story over and over again and copying the peers that have come before it. As a genre, I find it one of the weakest, based on the many lazy executions of it, and there are far more bad examples of how to do it than good ones, even among those that have become ratings hits.

I say this to give you an idea of the mindset I had going into FOX’s new drama, APB, and to illustrate how hard this series had to work to win me over. Yet, win me over it did, with a gripping pilot and an interesting premise. It could very well fall right into that awful pattern most cop dramas follow repeatedly in week two. But for a first episode, APB’s premiere was a great one.

The story begins with wild billionaire playboy Gideon Reed (the always fantastic Justin Kirk, Weeds), a man who likes splash and cares little for the consequences of doing what he wants. The flip side of him is that Gideon is an innovative engineer, and so his brilliance excuses much of his bad behavior in the business world. When a close pal and long-time advisor of his is killed, Gideon decides to pour his resources into reforming one particularly bad, underfunded police precinct in the city of Chicago. In doing so, he not only gives the metropolis hope, but also reforms an entire industry.

If that sounds like a fantastical story, well, it mostly is. You may read that APB is loosely based on a New York Times article about a rich guy that developed an app for the New Orleans cops, sort of like Gideon does in the series. However, this fictional version takes things a heck of a lot further, with equipment and procedure redesigned from the ground up.

The weakness in the story is how the police officers, initially skeptical of Gideon, quickly begin to be won over by the results of his inventions. A more realistic approach would be to have Gideon only slowly gain any traction with the people who are forced to accept his leadership against their will, as is what happens between he and the surely-crooked mayor. The audience, who are supposed to relate to Amelia Murphy (Natalie Martinez, Saints & Sinners, Kingdom), the face of the force, may feel as betrayed by these law enforcement types who quickly become converts as the characters themselves are portrayed to be at the start. The conflict is simplified far too much to be realistic.

But the reason I am willing to overlook this is because APB is so darn inspiring. In an era where the systems that are supposed to serve us are plagued by inefficiency and outdated thinking, and when the citizens of the country are more divided than ever, seeing people come together to make a community better and bring it into the modern age is awesome. It’s exactly the type of thing optimists wish to happen in real life, and when told with a complex, noble hero like Gideon at the center, alongside the brave women and men in blue, with nary a corrupt one among them, it’s a show that’s hard to resist.

What I do worry about is APB’s timeslot, which is following 24. While there are some suspenseful sequences, APB isn’t nearly as fast-paced as it lead-in. I wish the order were reversed, as it would serve fine as a warm up, but may be a let down after the adrenaline-pumping intensity of the real-time series.

APB premieres tonight at 9/8c on FOX.

SECRETS AND LIES and Crap

Article first published as SECRETS AND LIES Review on Seat42F.

ABC’s newest drama, SECRETS AND LIES, is based on the Australian miniseries of the same name. A man finds a boy’s body in the woods, and he soon finds himself the prime suspect in the kid’s murder, despite his insistence that he’s innocent. As friends and neighbors turn against him, can he clear his name and save his family?

First, it should be said that it is ridiculous how America finds the need to remake English-language series instead of just buying and airing the original versions, as is done in other countries. SECRETS AND LIES marks the third prime-time broadcast network drama this complaint applies to in this single television season, the first two being Gracepoint (copied from Broadchurch) and The Slap. At least this one doesn’t have any actors reprising their same roles, thus seems a little less repetitive.

When the U.S. remakes these shows, they almost always make an inferior, watered down product, often because the series is stretched out to more episodes, Americans not being used to limited series like other countries get. In this case, SECRETS AND LIES has been expanded from six hours to ten. But I have not seen the Australian version, so unlike with Gracepoint, I cannot lament over how American studios screwed up the program. Instead, I am judging this drama on its own merits, which, if not great, are surprisingly not terrible.

SECRETS AND LIES is a less complex version of The Killing, or a remake of Desperate Housewives with fewer characters and lacking humor. It does have some major plot holes, such as why the entire town turns against its protagonist before there’s any reason to, especially in a scene where he gets into the front seat of a police car. The DNA of the show, though, is a familiar case of a detective investigating locals, and thankfully the case will span the season, rather than be resolved in a single hour.

The lead investigator in SECRETS AND LIES is Detective Andrea Cornell (Juliette Lewis, The Firm TV series, Natural Born Killers), who is unfortunately the worst character in the first episode. She lacks any discernable emotion, other than supreme judginess, and has already made up her mind about the case before she sees any evidence. Her suspect, Ben Garner (Ryan Phillippe, Damages, Cruel Intentions), does have some holes in his story worth looking into, but he’s certainly not an obvious murderer, at least not right away.

Ben’s family is a central part of the tale, too. He is having problems with his wife, Christy (KaDee Strickland, Private Practice), and not just financial ones, though those are present and quickly worsen. His best friend, Dave (Dan Fogler, Man Up), is immature and crashes with them. His eldest daughter, Natalie (Indiana Evans, Home and Away), was the babysitter of the dead kid, and is being attacked by her friends for what her father is accused of doing. His younger daughter, Abby (Belle Shouse, Summer’s Shadow), may be the only one not turning against him, yet anyway.

Rounding out the cast is the deceased’s mother, neighbor Jess Mullen (Natalie Martinez, Under the Dome), who of course has some secrets of her own.

This is not a very original premise, and so my expectations were quite low going into episode one. Perhaps that’s why I ended up liking it, at least somewhat. It is far from the smartest show on television, but it has a solid cast of performers who handle the plot pretty well. Even where there are holes, they are smaller than in most of the recent premieres I’ve seen in the lack couple of years, and I’m drawn into Ben’s situation, sympathetic to his plight. There are a few surprises that don’t wholly feel like surprises, but there could be something here.

Of course, once we get to the middle of the season and the story has to tread water or add unnecessary subplots because Secrets And Lies seeks to fill more than the six hours it is based on, that opinion could quickly change, so I’ll take it week by week for now, rather than committing to the season pass. Still, this could be something, especially in the currently weak broadcast field.

SECRETS AND LIES premieres this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

CBS "Heads" Back UNDER THE DOME

Article originally written for Seat42F.

CBS’s Stephen King series, UNDER THE DOME, returned last night with a season premiere penned by the horror master himself. “Heads Will Roll” picks up right where season one ended, with Barbie’s (Mike Vogel) head in a noose and the dome glowing with a bright, white light. From there, the episode introduces several new characters, says goodbye to a couple of main players, and forces Big Jim (Dean Norris) to take a long, hard look at himself. It’s a pretty solid hour.

Big Jim is the villain of the piece, of course, but it seems like “Heads Will Roll” sets him on the road to redemption. As a magnetic force renders most of the citizens unconscious, Jim is plagued by hallucinations of Dodee (Jolene Purdy), whom he killed, and Linda (Natalie Martinez), the first casualty of the premiere. It’s like his own version of A Christmas Carol, and confronted with his failings, Big Jim decides he should end himself, which he almost goes through with until Julia (Rachelle Lefevre) stops him.

Can Big Jim eventually be one of the good guys? The dynamics of UNDER THE DOME are often flimsy, changing on a whim. After all, how many times has Angie (Britt Robertson) seemingly forgiven Junior (Alexander Koch) after he kidnaps her? However, the situation is tense and stress levels are high, which does make it easier to overlook misdeeds. Big Jim has made quite a few blunders in the eyes of our heroes, but most of the townsfolk don’t hate him, so if he works to be the leader they want, which he seems serious about when he gives now-homeless Norrie (Mackenzie Lintz) and Carolyn (Aisha Hinds) a key to his house, we could end up liking him.

With arcs like this, UNDER THE DOME strives to be a serious character piece, meaty drama with layered players. The problem is, it’s just not. It takes shortcuts and allows inconsistencies that hurt the overall impression. For instance, moments before Julia saves Big Jim, she’s ready and willing to be the tool that kills him. How can she shift so suddenly? The writers definitely seemed more concerned with the actions of those on screen than the motivations behind them. And even the actions, such as the dome magnetically pulling metal to it, aren’t the most consistently thought out, with items flying willy-nilly, rather than in a logical pattern, making it more dangerous, but less believable.

Which is not to say UNDER THE DOME is a bad show. I find it quite enjoyable, and there are some genuine surprises, such as Linda being squashed and Angie getting hacked to pieces. I am curious as to what is going on, and I’m engaged with who might die next. It’s just more in the genre of summer popcorn than serious drama.

The deaths do seem a bit arbitrary, which makes it hard to predict who might go next. Angie is one of the four kids who communication with the dome, so she doesn’t seem expendable, but’s she taken out, nonetheless. Plus, she runs the diner after the owner is previously killed, so that leaves a crucial gap in the town. Linda is the last real law enforcement officer left, again, making her seem safe, but she’s replaced by Phil (Nicholas Strong) by the end of the episode, Big Jim’s lackey, for now. The show does not worry about preserving a structure, and is willing to create more conflict by removing those that don’t seem replaceable, bold moves.

To help keep the population up, we are introduced to Sam Verdreaux (Eddie Cahill, CSI: NY), who initially makes a pretty boring corner of a love triangle with Julie and Barbie, but gets more interesting when we learn he’s Junior’s uncle and acts shifty. There’s also Rebecca Pine (Karla Crome), a science teacher, who might finally give us insight on the (uneven) mechanics of the dome, and Melanie Cross (Grace Victoria Cox), a crazy girl. This new blood should keep the story humming along nicely.

More interesting is the reveal of Junior’s mother, Pauline (Sherry Stringfield), outside of the dome. We haven’t really seen how the rest of the world is reacting to the events in Chester’s Mill, and she not only potentially provides a window to the larger universe, but also has strange connections to the dome itself. I, like many viewers, had assumed she was dead. To learn she’s elsewhere only deepens the mystery.

Overall, “Heads Will Roll” is one of the better installments of UNDER THE DOME, with everything from action to self-reflection, to a cameo by King himself. Season two is off to a good start.

UNDER THE DOME airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.