Just when you thought television had enough cops-and-robbers dramas comes “The Beast.” Patrick Swayze stars in this gritty series that shows promise, but fixates itself too much on cliched crime devices.
Swayze plays Charles Barker, an undercover FBI agent that has a penchant for bending the rules that stricter agents follow. He pairs up with Ellis Dove (Travis Fimmel), a wet-behind-the-ears rookie desperately in need of some practical experience.
It’s impossible to watch the show without cognizance of Swayze’s serious battle with pancreatic cancer. The pilot was filmed over a year ago, before the actor went public with his illness. Age makes him look the part of a rugged detective, but one has to wonder how his strong appearance will fare as the first season continues (and beyond that, what the future of the show will likely hold).
In aggregate, you’ve seen just about everything in The Beast has to offer before from a myriad of action movies and crime dramas. I almost thought producers were making fun of themselves in the opening sequence, which features the too-often-used “everybody point a gun at each other” predicament. Shortly after Barker shoots his partner, the mood lightens as he carries out his body and it’s revealed he had on a bulletproof vest. But the show quickly revisits sequences and themes used in other shows and films.
In fact, The Beast feels a little bit too much like Training Day, with several scenes and camera shots seemingly stolen from the film. Remember when Denzel Washington’s character brings the car to a screeching halt and explains the rules of being undercover? Got that one. Rookie doing dope on his first day? Yup. The only thing missing is Denzel’s 1979 Monte Carlo (but Barker does drive a pretty bad-ass Cadillac STS).
You’ll have to wade through some stiff dialogue, but the show gets a lot of its grittiness from the cinematography and dark overall tones. This bleak and dark portrayal of Chicago will have you think these guys are protecting Gotham City. Even the day scenes have a very gray and bleak overtone to them, almost going to full black and white save some flesh tones and traffic lights here and there. If anything, the colors heighten the sense that this is a world that desperately needs saving.
Fortunately, Swayze does a fine job as the show’s centerpiece. He’s surrounded by a cast that does a good job with what they’ve been given. The story in the first episode teases that the show will go beyond a mission of the week format, with the main characters having periphery relationships they’re either trying to build or save.
The Beast debuts tonight at 10pm on A and E. If you like gritty crime dramas and can get past the cliches, check it out.
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