I just caught the pilot and I think this show has potential. Created by Shawn Ryan (the same dude behind The Shield) it focuses on cops trying to take on city corruption in (you guessed it) Chicago. I'm interested to see what Ryan can do with main characters that aren't completely Machiavellian. From the wikipedia entry it sounds like Ryan has developed an immersive world where the storylines are dynamic and complex. The dialogue was pretty snappy and the acting in the pilot was strong (especially by the main detective played Jason Clarke, imo). I'm a little wary of Beals playing a tough police superintendent, but hopefully she has the chops. Delroy Lindo plays the corrupt alderman and while he is no Isiah Whitlock playing Senator Clay Davis, who is? It airs on FOX Mondays 9/8c.
DVR'ed this when my wife found out an old friend is part of the cast. He's part of the duo that got busted in their apartment. The guy with less lines, didn't catch his name. Anywho, thought it was very good, with a great and unassuming open. Great dialoge and interesting back stories. This will be replaceng Detroit 187 as my cop show. I like that the main detective is complex(with a hot ex) and we know what he's into vs. Michael Imperioli's guy on 187. Spoiler I kept waiting for someone to get shot at any point in the ep. Especially the start. Almost thought it would go all 60 minutes without a man down.
Not many shows threaten to hook me from the pilot. As snobes said, the main guy is complex, and not in a generic way. I was impressed with how well the series was introduced - they built a background, gave good impressions of the main characters, and managed to set up a decent amount of intrigue, all without making me feel like they were trying to fit too much in. To me, that kind of writing and directing says good things for the series.
I really love Shawn Ryan. I happen to be rewatching The Shield, and there are a lot of cool parallels to this show. Terriers was another show he was involved with last year that may have had the best season of TV ever outside of The Wire. I liked that they kept the silly humor and one-liners at most crime scenes that is more pervasive than I had remembered in The Shield. This show is really The Shield but less edgy, which is perfect for Fox. The lines are very clearly drawn and it will be interesting to see how they blend serialized vs one-off episodes. The only thing I dislike about most network cop shows is that they are just a collection of one-off neatly wrapped up turds. Ryan has been getting better and better at blending those two worlds as time as has gone on, so I have high hopes for this series. Also, major spoiler… Spoiler I thought killing the guy off during his back story setup was one of the coolest things ever. I have never seen that anywhere in anything, and it was done so perfectly. I did think the first 5-10 minutes were pretty weak. All goodness from there.
The pilot hooked me but I'm already out on this show. Great characters but I can't stand the "villain gets away again" that seems to happen at the end of every episode. I use The Wire as my benchmark for all cop drama shows. The best part of The Wire was that they didn't try to gift wrap every episode with an ending. So while Clay Davis was actively breaking the law and running a game here there and everywhere they didn't try to force the suspense of "maybe this week they'll catch him!" down our throats like Chicago Code does. I really wish they could take the series down that road. Building a case and build the drama as they're closing in rather than the formula they're currently using.
Is anyone still keeping tabs on this series? I actually think they're doing well with it...Fawkes had a good point with the first few episodes, but it feels like they've moved away from that in favor of spending more time watching day-to-day aspects of the main characters while throwing in enough about Gibbons to add suspense. I'm still waiting for the undercover to get busted, and Gibbons is written as the kind of character that won't let you get any forewarning.
Apparently not. Not one fucking mention of Alderman Givens in the last episode. Just a triple homicide solved and Colvin proving the haters wrong once again in under an hour.
Guess you won't be watching cop drama shows any time soon. I like this show. Seems like they're going the way of the Shield: an overarching storyline with most episodes also having a more specific incident. Also the theme song is awesome.