TV: The Inside
It’s no secret that there are a lot of crime dramas on television these days. Although I do enjoy many of them, it takes something special for a show not to be lumped into the middle of the pack with the already crowded genre. The Inside (Fox, Wednsesdays 9:00 PM) shows enough originality and sparks enough interest to make it stand out.
The show revolves around Virgil “Web” Webster (Peter Coyote) and his team of four agents (handpicked by Web himself) that track only certain cases (also picked by Web). We learn in the first episode that Web chooses his agents because of certain “issues” that each of them has. Agent Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols) is the newest member of the team, and we find out in the pilot that she was kidnapped and held for 18 months as a child. Since the incident, she has tried to leave it behind her—even changing her name from Becky George so that she won’t be recognized as “the little girl who was kidnapped”.
The idea is that these agents, through whatever traits they have that led Web to them, can see the crime from the inside out (hence the name of the show). We don’t know what it is that attracted Web to the other three agents just yet, so there is much room left for character development, which is one element that many crime dramas leave out; opting instead to tell the stories of one crime per week (the episode of CSI directed by Quentin Tarantino was one of the few shows in the series where I learned something about any character other than the main two).
While we wait to find out what it is that plagues/drives these other agents, each of them fills their niche nicely. Rebecca is the new girl and a very good profiler. Paul Ryan (Jay Harrington) serves as the conscience of the group, always being wary of Web and his sometimes-questionable tactics. He is also the only member of the group whom we know to be married. Danny Love (Adam Baldwin) is the short-tempered former Marine (though not to the point where he annoyingly always refers to “The Corps” and things like that) who leads tactical operations. Melody Sim (Katie Finneran) is the one who cracks the occasional joke to lighten the often dour mood of the agents, and she is also a psychologist.
The Inside is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. The tone of the show is very dark and sometimes disturbing. It reminds me at times of The Silence of the Lambs, Seven, and other similarly themed movies. It moves at a very nice pace, never boring, and often gripping. The music is always well utilized, and the transitions and cut-scenes always complement the tempo and feel of a given episode. It’s been on for three weeks now, and one can easily join the series knowing the simple plot points. It’s the best of the new summer series so far, and I recommend that you check it out.
Final Score: 4 cents
The show revolves around Virgil “Web” Webster (Peter Coyote) and his team of four agents (handpicked by Web himself) that track only certain cases (also picked by Web). We learn in the first episode that Web chooses his agents because of certain “issues” that each of them has. Agent Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols) is the newest member of the team, and we find out in the pilot that she was kidnapped and held for 18 months as a child. Since the incident, she has tried to leave it behind her—even changing her name from Becky George so that she won’t be recognized as “the little girl who was kidnapped”.
The idea is that these agents, through whatever traits they have that led Web to them, can see the crime from the inside out (hence the name of the show). We don’t know what it is that attracted Web to the other three agents just yet, so there is much room left for character development, which is one element that many crime dramas leave out; opting instead to tell the stories of one crime per week (the episode of CSI directed by Quentin Tarantino was one of the few shows in the series where I learned something about any character other than the main two).
While we wait to find out what it is that plagues/drives these other agents, each of them fills their niche nicely. Rebecca is the new girl and a very good profiler. Paul Ryan (Jay Harrington) serves as the conscience of the group, always being wary of Web and his sometimes-questionable tactics. He is also the only member of the group whom we know to be married. Danny Love (Adam Baldwin) is the short-tempered former Marine (though not to the point where he annoyingly always refers to “The Corps” and things like that) who leads tactical operations. Melody Sim (Katie Finneran) is the one who cracks the occasional joke to lighten the often dour mood of the agents, and she is also a psychologist.
The Inside is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. The tone of the show is very dark and sometimes disturbing. It reminds me at times of The Silence of the Lambs, Seven, and other similarly themed movies. It moves at a very nice pace, never boring, and often gripping. The music is always well utilized, and the transitions and cut-scenes always complement the tempo and feel of a given episode. It’s been on for three weeks now, and one can easily join the series knowing the simple plot points. It’s the best of the new summer series so far, and I recommend that you check it out.
Final Score: 4 cents
Tha Docta's two cents. | 4:57 PM
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