I love the character of Fitch. I want to know why he left New York. Michael Imperioli plays him with such quiet intensity...I think that I am falling in love with him. I love that he calls everyone when he has "feelings" -keeping his distance and making it less personal. It says things about technology, our culture, a cop's plight to compartmentalize his life as to not be touched by hatred and crime.
However, even though this character is strong, the whole ensemble is equally strong. The lieutenant played by Ms. Hinds is right on. Trying to juggle her teen and put in a day's work. I really want to walk a day in her shoes and find out how she got where she is.
I also love James McDaniel as Jesse Longford who lives half his life on the mean streets of Detroit and half in a Tuscan fantasy in a desperate attempt to cope with his wife's death and rigors of his job...always giving us his unique glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel.
So many dramas these days revolve around one character and you only see the one side of it. The writers of this drama and the strong actors playing out the written characterization have created a world that is real in the sense that the drama is personal for everyone. I would love to see this show developed so that there is not one lead, but every episode shows us different aspects of all the characters. They are all so very interesting and not the kind of cookie cutter people you see portrayed in other dramas of this type.
I watch a lot of cop/crime dramas... and though everyone is saying that this replaces Law & Order, I believe this is something so much more. It is not impersonal the way that L&O can sometimes be. We have to go through it with the personalities -it affects them. It is easy to say that there is one way -that things are black and white, but with this series we find a structure imposed on a chaos that has good people trying to keep their sanity in any way possible. I think that is what makes it real.
As to the setting, I think that the show tries to keep some of the integrity of Detroit. You can hear it in the music selections. Detroit is rife with problems there is no doubt. What the show tells me is that even though there is crime and violence in the inter-city neighborhoods, there are still people living there that care about their city, e.g. I love Natalie Martinez's rendition of Ariana Sanchez who sets the detectives straight when they bad-mouth her neighborhood.
Mr. Richman please keep writing stuff like this -an ensemble where all the characters are important and matter. It is great programming.
Thank you.
