TV Drive By Watch: Life

[weewarrior]

This is one of those shows that sneaks up on you, seemingly nothing special at first, just another procedural with a quirky lead character, one that you suspect will never really raise above any of its countless siblings. But then, suddenly, it turns out to be this character-driven, atmospheric little jewel that has great acting, good writing, brilliant music, a solid overarching mystery, standalone cases that are not excessively ripped from the headlines and an investigating duo that rivals early Mulder/Scully in chemistry, and before you really know it, you're hooked. Additional bonus - tons of Deadwood alumni keep creeping up, and "Calamity Jane" Robin Weigert has a regular spot as Crews and Reese's Lieutenant.

The story is simple: Cop Charlie Crews has been incarcerated for 12 years, for murders he didn't commit. His lawyer manages to prove his innocence and achieve compensation - a considerable amount of money and the department he used to work for hiring him back, this time as a detective. He doesn't just return for the fun of police work, obviously, he wants to find out who set him up, and there indeed may have been a rather sinister conspiracy, complete with faking evidence and hiding witnesses. This mystery unfolds slowly but steadily in the background, and illustrates both Charlie's character and his evolving relationships to the people around him, especially his housemate, financial advisor and fellow ex-convict Ted, his new partner Dani Reese and his old partner Bobby Stark.

It's extremely well done, and if you don't watch it yet, you should really try it out. I'm sure you won't regret it.


- Michael Kostroff and Sarah Clarke! This show always has such great guest stars. Kostroff really seems to get these "fumbly business expert" roles a lot, but he was funny and charming as usual, and while I had to get used to Clarke's washed out blonde look, it certainly served the character very well.

- Christina Hendricks was also lovely, and I really like Ted's subplot with Olivia. I wonder when Charlie's father will turn up to make things a lot more complicated.

- I am pretty sure I knew hateful white trash boy Jeffrey as well - does someone know who the actor is?

- Proof that product placement works - I'd really like to play some version of Prince of Persia again.

- Speaking of that scene, while I found it hilarious that everyone was getting drawn into the game and cheering the players on, and also loved that it was Little Sister, not Self-Proclaimed Über Geek Programmer, who hit the jackpot, I still thought it could have run for a good few seconds less. I doubt there were really many viewers honestly interested in the Prince's progress in saving Farah.

- Reese's father shapes up to be less than lovely, doesn't he? Forbidding Dani to speak what I assume is her mother's first language when growing up is pretty cold.

- The following probably has to be turned into a macro: I love Reese. I love Charlie. I really need a Sarah Shahi icon.

- no fruit this time, were there?

- Crews bonding with Mary Ann over being technologically challenged was classic. I suppose he got so entranced by her both because she was a stubborn survivor type, and because she looked so much like his ex-wife?

Comments

[funky-donut.livejournal.com]

I'd never heard of PoP before, but I kind of want to play it. Oh, and WOE on the typo in my comment that I didn't notice till now. seen --> scene!

I guess she'll come back at some point, but probably only to wrap up plot threads, not as a love interest. Yeah, I think you're right, and I'm curious about that. I wonder if their plans changed, because it seemed like she was slated to be a love interest at first.