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RAINES (Pilot)
(Review)
Michael Raines (Jeff Goldblum) once thought he could be a crime novelist, but decided against it. Too many decisions to make, he thought. (An idea that is played with to good effect in the pilot’s opening.)
So instead, he became a police detective.
Three months after an on-the-job shooting, he’s back to work, but now, the victim in the case he’s just been handed, Sandy Boudreau (Alexa Davalos, from one of the best shows from the 2005 TV season, the brutally truncated Reunion), is talking to him. She could be a ghost, or she could be Raines’ fertile imagination giving him a sounding board, but the fact remains, Raines sees her, and by interacting with her, he solves the case.
Like Dexter before it, Raines takes certain facets of the crime procedural and presents their logical extremes. If investigators imagine and visualize murder scenarios, why not have a cop actually interact with the victim?
And more than just being the show’s hook, this idea is explored quite nicely, as Sandy undergoes changes even as Raines uncovers her secrets. Her accent changes, as do her clothes, as well as her physical appearance and demeanor. This aspect of the premise then neatly dovetails into stereotypes and ingrained perceptions (a hooker would look slutty and have heavy make-up; a woman working with a sleazy detective would be a femme fatale).
This aspect of the show then allows us to see psychologies and motivations, just as the flashbacks in Lost do. In Lost, we understand better why characters make the decisions they do; in Raines, we gain insight into the murder itself, and the reasons why the victim ended up on the coroner’s slab.
Raines is one of the best of the new crop of mid-season shows (certainly far better than Blood Ties), with a pilot written by Graham Yost (Boomtown) and directed by Mr. Stephen King on the Big Screen himself, Frank Darabont.*
It’s a crime procedural with an interesting and welcome twist, that boasts good writing and a commendable central performance by Goldblum as a man who is worried he could be going mad, but is willing to see where this ride could take him. (The pilot also has a plot twist that you may see coming if you’re sharp and on the ball. Regardless, it’s a fun little curveball that spices things up quite nicely.)
Having given Raines my thumbs-up though, I would like to say that I hope there is some kind of arc here, and that this show won’t just be about the Victim of the Week. Even Dexter has the title character (a forensics expert/serial killer) go on a transformative journey over its first season.
I’d like to see Raines struggle with this predicament (for lack of a better word). This is not exactly normal, whether it’s all in his head or not, and this show should never fall into the trap of being flippant and nonchalant about the idea. That’s the way a lot of the forensics procedurals are these days when it comes to murder and victims (another week, another body), and Raines, given its atypical premise, should never fall prey to that.
* After The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, Darabont is currently shooting The Mist, based on King’s novella of the same name.
(Image courtesy of tv.com.)
(Review)
Michael Raines (Jeff Goldblum) once thought he could be a crime novelist, but decided against it. Too many decisions to make, he thought. (An idea that is played with to good effect in the pilot’s opening.)
So instead, he became a police detective.
Three months after an on-the-job shooting, he’s back to work, but now, the victim in the case he’s just been handed, Sandy Boudreau (Alexa Davalos, from one of the best shows from the 2005 TV season, the brutally truncated Reunion), is talking to him. She could be a ghost, or she could be Raines’ fertile imagination giving him a sounding board, but the fact remains, Raines sees her, and by interacting with her, he solves the case.
Like Dexter before it, Raines takes certain facets of the crime procedural and presents their logical extremes. If investigators imagine and visualize murder scenarios, why not have a cop actually interact with the victim?
And more than just being the show’s hook, this idea is explored quite nicely, as Sandy undergoes changes even as Raines uncovers her secrets. Her accent changes, as do her clothes, as well as her physical appearance and demeanor. This aspect of the premise then neatly dovetails into stereotypes and ingrained perceptions (a hooker would look slutty and have heavy make-up; a woman working with a sleazy detective would be a femme fatale).
This aspect of the show then allows us to see psychologies and motivations, just as the flashbacks in Lost do. In Lost, we understand better why characters make the decisions they do; in Raines, we gain insight into the murder itself, and the reasons why the victim ended up on the coroner’s slab.
Raines is one of the best of the new crop of mid-season shows (certainly far better than Blood Ties), with a pilot written by Graham Yost (Boomtown) and directed by Mr. Stephen King on the Big Screen himself, Frank Darabont.*
It’s a crime procedural with an interesting and welcome twist, that boasts good writing and a commendable central performance by Goldblum as a man who is worried he could be going mad, but is willing to see where this ride could take him. (The pilot also has a plot twist that you may see coming if you’re sharp and on the ball. Regardless, it’s a fun little curveball that spices things up quite nicely.)
Having given Raines my thumbs-up though, I would like to say that I hope there is some kind of arc here, and that this show won’t just be about the Victim of the Week. Even Dexter has the title character (a forensics expert/serial killer) go on a transformative journey over its first season.
I’d like to see Raines struggle with this predicament (for lack of a better word). This is not exactly normal, whether it’s all in his head or not, and this show should never fall into the trap of being flippant and nonchalant about the idea. That’s the way a lot of the forensics procedurals are these days when it comes to murder and victims (another week, another body), and Raines, given its atypical premise, should never fall prey to that.
* After The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, Darabont is currently shooting The Mist, based on King’s novella of the same name.
(Image courtesy of tv.com.)
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