Gritty cop drama in motor city
Detroit has been getting a fair amount of drama love due to its fall from grace as the heart of American manufacturing. Last year they had Hung which led a teacher to turn to prostitution and this year we have the police procedural, next up is Detroit 1-8-7. The selling point is the crazy high murder rate and a return to our screens for The Sopranos
The plot is simple enough, the cops arrive at the scene of a double homicide in a pharmacy, at first it looks like it was the result of a botched robbery, but seasoned veteran Detective Louis Fitch suspects more is at hand and robbery was not the motive. As is always the case, there is a rookie in the precinct who is eager to prove himself to the less personable Fitch, Fitch offers all his advice via a phone call, even if only standing a few feet away. A third murder on a bridge is being investigated by Sergeant Longford and Detective Mahajan but when forensics link the crimes they find their suspect and track him down a confrontation with hostages. Fitch puts his life on the line to negotiate, bearing a darker side to his unknown personality.
When compared to other new police procedural dramas this season, Detroit 1-8-7 is by the far the grittiest, most the action takes places at or on cloudy days making it feel rundown and depressing even during scenes of comic relief. This at least sets it apart from the competition in some respect, but in real story terms there is nothing new here to get overly excited about – it is the same old story in different packing. Further more it is still network television, so although it tries to be gritty it can’t quite extend down to the depths of FX’s The Shield
Some of the best comedy can be found in drama, this is often due to well thought out characters rather than set ups and punchlines which can feel unnatural and forced funny. Amongst the grit of the pilot there is a fair amount of humour from both Fitch and Washington as they struggle to find a way to work together. This is really important as the darkness will only feel dark if we have light to compare it to.
Imperioli is very welcome back on our screens and it is great to see him turn to a brooding thinker rather than the rash ambitious gangster, he plays his silence well and lingers in your mind long after the after characters are forgotten, for they are not nearly so well drawn. There is an interesting scope and darkness to be pealed away to reveal why the character keeps those around him at such a distance.
What is interesting is that the show was originally envisioned and shot as a faux documentary, but abandoned this after the city of Detroit banned camera crews from following real officers after a controversial police shooting during filming of the A&E documentary series The First 48. Scenes from the pilot were re-shot, but from time to time remnants of the concept survive. Although we have lost scenes such as Fitch grabbing one of the documentary cameras to smash a car window that brilliantly break the wall and show us something we have not seen before. This shift in focus has still not fully happened in the pilot and we are left with is a show that is either evolving or devolving in front of our eyes. Right Detroit 1-8-7 has more promise that most cop shows, but falls far short from the best.
Created / Written by: Jason Richman
Directed by: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Starring: Michael Imperioli, Natalie Martinez, Jon Michael Hill, James McDaniel, Aisha Hinds, D.J. Cotrona, Shaun Majumder, Erin Cummings
Date premièred: 21st September 2010
UK Details: TBC
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