Life: Pilot
By fred | September 29, 2007
(S01E01) I haven’t hidden the fact that NBC new cop show, Life, was one of the show I was most awaiting for. Hadn’t seen it, and despite what may sound like a quite old and, one might even say, boring, plot line – cop was framed and sent to jail for a triple murder he did not commit, eventually got proven innocent and released free after 12 years, with a nice but undisclosed amount of money, and of course he’s back in the force – yet despite all that, I simply couldn’t wait to see what it’d be like.
Why ? Because of a clip I saw. And a line I loved.
It goes something like this :
“
- It is the Universe that makes fun of us all.
- Why exactly would the Universe make fun of us all ?
- Maybe it’s insecure.
”
Sure, the episode starts with an introduction as you would expect it to be : how everyone thought he was guilty, his partners, his wife, how he got beat up bad while in jail, how he got framed, cause there was all this evidence.
But rapidly we move on to a new case, because he’s back on the field, working cases. Murder cases. But this show isn’t first about the stories, it is a character-driven series. What matters most here is Charlie Crews, the new & Zen Charlie. (Although I admit, I don’t really know how he used to be, before)
And he has his “manners”, a very specific way to behave, move, act, speak, and deal with life in general. It’s all about the way of Zen, living in the moment, and making the most of it. It’s about how everything & everyone is connected. And eating fruits, too, apparently. A lot of fruits.
But all of this gives the character a different angle, a new approach to the cases he’s working on. And it is very pleasant to see him find clues, get the truth out of people, helping them from time to time – even if it means breaking the law a little – and having fun, should that be by eating fruits or giving tickets to the new husband of his ex-wive.
Crews is a very unusual character. I’m not sure he’s one people will love – although beside him, his lawyer, maybe his partner, and his ex-cellmate Ted, everyone else on the show is quite unpleasant, at the very least – but while you may not love him, you won’t hate him either, neither love to hate nor hate to love him. It’s nothing like that, he’s no House, but he has that something that makes you enjoy spending time with him.
TVoholic’s review of Pilot: Merit Badge @ The Path To Zen // Everything You Need About NBC Series LIFE starring Damian Lewis & Sarah Shahi