Post by Brad Nelson on Jan 12, 2021 15:07:36 GMT -8
New Tricks
I watched first episode of New Tricks (which was the pilot episode). It was good. Whether the show will hold up past the pilot, it did at least survive for twelve seasons.
In “The Chinese Job,” Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman is asked to put together a kind of “cold-case” team. This team will comprise herself as the head as well as a small team of retired officers. These retirees will serve as civilians but still have most of the investigative powers (access to police computers, archives, etc.) of a normal cop.
That all sounds a bit dull. There has been an explosion of these kinds of cold-case cop shows. I have not seen one that has been any good. Most are composed of soap-opera-looking actors who look about as much like a cop as Brooke Shields.
This is different. These are crusty old dudes who have seen a lot of action. First and foremost, you are not asked to assume the mental state of a 13-year-old. This is a dark comedy, or at least a droll comedy. The team that Detective Superintendent Pullman puts together is a quirky bunch of men. One is some kind of savant, the other seems to know the criminal underground a bit too well, and the other talks to his wife’s grave for inspiration in solving cases. A black PC officer rounds out the team, if only by osmosis. There is subtlety to some of this comedy. That means its intelligence level is above that of a mushroom.
But they’re not too quirky in a way that is annoying. Yes, there is a ball-busting strong female in the lead but she’s not a snowflake and they do throw us a few bones in the way the boys interact with her. The men (at least so far) have not been castrated. In later episodes, who knows?
Police corruption is an underlying theme in this first episode and there promises to be story arcs that continue with this. The savant-like Brian Lane thinks he was tossed off the force because a defendant (who he had in custody) died. But Lane thinks he was murdered and his ousting was meant to cover it up.
The only lame part of the show is the stereotypical bureaucratic boss who is Pullman’s boss.
All in all, if you like a good detective story that is a little different, seek this pilot out. I think you’ll enjoy it. I’ll watch a few more and report back.
I watched first episode of New Tricks (which was the pilot episode). It was good. Whether the show will hold up past the pilot, it did at least survive for twelve seasons.
In “The Chinese Job,” Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman is asked to put together a kind of “cold-case” team. This team will comprise herself as the head as well as a small team of retired officers. These retirees will serve as civilians but still have most of the investigative powers (access to police computers, archives, etc.) of a normal cop.
That all sounds a bit dull. There has been an explosion of these kinds of cold-case cop shows. I have not seen one that has been any good. Most are composed of soap-opera-looking actors who look about as much like a cop as Brooke Shields.
This is different. These are crusty old dudes who have seen a lot of action. First and foremost, you are not asked to assume the mental state of a 13-year-old. This is a dark comedy, or at least a droll comedy. The team that Detective Superintendent Pullman puts together is a quirky bunch of men. One is some kind of savant, the other seems to know the criminal underground a bit too well, and the other talks to his wife’s grave for inspiration in solving cases. A black PC officer rounds out the team, if only by osmosis. There is subtlety to some of this comedy. That means its intelligence level is above that of a mushroom.
But they’re not too quirky in a way that is annoying. Yes, there is a ball-busting strong female in the lead but she’s not a snowflake and they do throw us a few bones in the way the boys interact with her. The men (at least so far) have not been castrated. In later episodes, who knows?
Police corruption is an underlying theme in this first episode and there promises to be story arcs that continue with this. The savant-like Brian Lane thinks he was tossed off the force because a defendant (who he had in custody) died. But Lane thinks he was murdered and his ousting was meant to cover it up.
The only lame part of the show is the stereotypical bureaucratic boss who is Pullman’s boss.
All in all, if you like a good detective story that is a little different, seek this pilot out. I think you’ll enjoy it. I’ll watch a few more and report back.