The Inside

This was an excellent show! Much darker and more extreme than your typical crime show. Still,how dark and disturbing events get, there always seem to be room for some humor to lighten things up. The most fun aspect of the show is that you actually never now what is going to happen. Each episode is full of twists and turns that will surprise you. The cast is pretty good. Most of the characters are interesting and likable. Special Mention has to go to Peter Coyote. He is a dark and mysterious character himself but devoted to solve the complicated crimes. I am not going to say much more about the cast and plot. Since that will ruin the experience! That doesn't mean that this show is perfect. Of course it has it's flaws. Because of it's dark nature and themes this show only is suited to be seen at night. And you have to be prepared for it's content. And also the character development was a bit lacking. I must admit that there was some development noticeable but this seem to be limited to the main character Rebbeca. If this series would not have been canceled than it surely would have paid more attention to the other characters. At least the show ended well. It is concluded nicely and there are no real loose ends. If you get the chance than this show is definitely worth it.

This series has just finished its UK run on ITV4, a minor satellite channel. I thought it was really good but, just as others have commented on the rotten support by Fox Network, the scheduling on ITV4 was also unhelpful. Halfway through the series, it got demoted from prime time to a graveyard slot post midnight. Still, we all have video timers . . . And the good news for UK viewers who missed an episode is that the series will be repeated from October. I wouldn't really compare The Inside to The Shield or CSI or Law & Order; those shows are similarly violent but less involving I think. The obvious comparison is with Criminal Minds - FBI specialist team, IT expert, damaged/socially inept team member, aspiring to high mindedness - but the scripts on Criminal Minds do tend towards an unpleasant didactic ism. Maybe that's why that show continues to run . .

The mercurial FBI Agent Virgil Webster (Peter Coyote) leads the L.A. Violent Crimes Unit. After losing an agent, rookie agent Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols) joins the group. As a 10 year old, she was held prisoner for 18 months and escaped. It's a past that only Webster is purview to as he tries to use her experience from The Inside.

The obvious question is why this show crashed and burned while a similar show like 'Criminal Minds' keeps going and going and going. It has to be both the show and what Fox does with the show. For Fox, this was nothing but a summer burn-off. They aired the episodes in a jumbo and dump them like dirty laundry. The show has a bit of serial element and showing the episodes out of order doesn't help. Criminal Minds is an easy to digest police procedural. There is hardly any serial element to the show and CBS actually supported it.

The central aspect of Locke's past is a bit too fake and the show is trying to make her too special. She is still a rookie after all. As for the look of the show, it is very stark and somewhat dark. The visual is almost drained of color. In fact, the most color in the show comes from some dream sequences. The show makes a basic mistake that some of these serial killer show at the time makes. The dark material convinces the showrunner to film it darkly. The material is dark enough that it doesn't need to be starkly filmed. It drains the life out of the show. With a few tweaks and actual support from Fox, this could have been a successful show.

You see, I'm a TV jinx. Any show I like, no matter what the network, is sure to be canceled abruptly with no explanation. I liked this show from the first episode, and after the second episode it went on "hiatus", and then was abruptly canceled. The same thing happened with "Nowhere Man" (FOX), "Now and Then" (CBS?), "John Doe" (FOX), "The Fugitive" (the remake series, I forget the network), and many, many other shows that I grew to like. I'll try not to let it happen again. Maybe I'll try liking really bad shows like "So You Think You Can Dance", or "Survivor" or any one of those other insipid reality shows. Maybe then the networks will cancel them and leave the good shows on the air. Only problem is, what will I watch then?

I have found this on my must see list of shows for the week. It has a number of hooks that brings me back each week. The reference to Silence of the Lambs has definite merit. However, I have seen a number of other comparisons such as Coyote's vague similarity to Mark Harmon. But, I still go back to the show for it's own merit. I have hope that the show will survive and be on the coming season's lineup, or brought back in at mid-season. I think Locke has the ability to carry the character which she has demonstrated up to this point. She recently made the adjustment to become one of the crowd, and attempt to lose her standoffishness.