FALL TV RECAP: A look back at primetime’s odd slate of new shows
This fall TV season saw several promising new entries. Some of the shows are confounding, others quite engaging. In our estimation, there’s no new Homeland or Downton Abbey, but four shows kept our focus for a few months.
• THE BLACKLIST (NBC): Undoubtedly the strongest new primetime drama is The Blacklist, the NBC show starring James Spader, Megan Boone and Diego Klattenhoff. The series follows a rogue criminal by the name of Raymond “Red” Reddington (Spader) after he turns himself in to the FBI. Requesting immunity for his many international transgressions (mostly involving money and homeland security threats), Red promises to help the federal agents with their quest to find bad guys they don’t even know exist. His most important stipulation for the agreement: He wants to work with Elizabeth “Liz” Keen (Boone), a new recruit to the Bureau. The plot, involving an overarching story and week-to-week dramas, is intriguing and wonderfully brought to life by the expert Spader. The only fault of the show is that NBC doesn’t feel like the best home for such a cutthroat, violent series. This sometimes feels like the PG-13 version of Homeland.
• AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC): The second best show of the new TV season is a continuation of the Marvel plot line from The Avengers. Joss Whedon and company have crafted a fun, spirited and infectious combination of superhero antics and serialized television tropes for a successful show. What’s great about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the fact that it never tries too hard. The characters, including Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson, are somewhat stereotypical for the genre. Ming-Na Wen’s Melinda May is the quiet brute. Brett Dalton’s Grant Ward is a tactical master. Iain De Caestecker’s Fitz and Elizabeth Henstridge’s Simmons, a brother-sister team, provide the technical prowess. Chloe Bennet’s Skye and Gregg’s Coulson are the only originals, refusing to fit any commonly used archetype. Although the humor is appreciated, the constant one-liners also hold the show back from taking itself seriously. In many ways, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is like any other comic book adaptation: able to tell an invigorating story, but profundity is always kept at arm’s length.
• SLEEPY HOLLOW (FOX): At times, Sleepy Hollow is the best new show on television. Unfortunately its track record is spotty. The story of Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and how he fits into a 2013 society can be quite intoxicating television, in much the same way that Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code shot to the top of bestseller lists. Reexamined history lessons help the narrative jump off the screen and into our ever-curious minds. The problem is that the rest of the characters on the show, including Lt. Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), Katrina Crane (Katia Winter) and especially Capt. Frank Irving (a miscast Orlando Jones), pale in comparison as character portraits. First off, Katrina is hardly on screen and only pops up as a device of the convoluted plot. Abbie has great potential, but right now her back story is filled with one too many question marks. Frank is a lost cause because the writers refuse to give him any dialogue beyond the typical police procedural jargon. Sleepy Hollow, perhaps the riskiest show to hit television in years, needs to keep stoking the fire. This one has the ability to stick around for many years.
• HOSTAGES (CBS): The most improbable, illogical, far-fetched and strangely alluring show is Hostages on CBS. Starring Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott and Tate Donovan, the show attempts to be as of-the-moment as Homeland but fails miserably. The story of having the president’s surgeon kill him in order to save an FBI agent’s wife doesn’t make one iota of sense. The actors all have believable line deliveries and keep straight faces, but the plot seems like it was sketched on a napkin. There are so many holes in this story and so many occasions where the authorities would have stepped in that it’s difficult to buy into the show. We keep watching simply because it’s better than the alphabet soup that is CSI, NCIS, L&O, etc.
• Returning shows we’re most excited for in the new year: The Americans, Bates Motel, The Following, Hannibal, Downton Abbey.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
