Golden Boy

"Golden Boy" illustrates a literary technique called intercalation, which isn't as hard to understand as its highfalutin' name suggests. It means that one story is sandwiched inside of another. Every episode begins with part one of story A: Commissioner Clark, in about the year 2020, finds himself in a situation that reminds him of a lesson he learned (or in some cases mis-learned?) in 2013. Flashback to story B: How then-Detective Clark learned a lesson. Finally, flash forward to part two of story A: Commissioner Clark either applies or reflects on the lesson he learned back in 2013.

Variations on this technique are old: The Gospel According to Mark is full of intercalation, and there as here, the effect can be to underline the moral of the story. ("Pulp Fiction" (1994) uses it seemingly to underline the randomness of life.) It undermines much of the suspense in "Golden Boy": When Clark gets in trouble, the tension is relieved by our knowledge that he will not only live but become commissioner of police; so we know he is going to get out of any trouble he is in. The only thing we might feel anxious about are the hints that his path to the top is going to be costly. His conflict with a fellow detective is going to lead to a crisis, and we do not know whether his old partner (Chi McBride) is going to live to see Clark become commissioner. We also see that Commissioner Clark has a permanent limp, which seems to indicate that he might be going to face death even though we know he will cheat it for the time being.

This show would be edgier if we didn't know that Clark is going to overcome his obstacles. Knowing that he cannot die, even though those around him might, is a source of tension only where the other characters are concerned; his own near immortality seems a bit weird.

At first glance it may appear as a basic crime investigation show but that's purely surface. Underneath the familiar exterior lies a show with a lot more to say about morality, good and evil and other matters of character. The main character has a duality about him that will keep you watching his every move from start to finish. While i suspect people will say the case they working on is weak from a story point of view, I would say the cases in this show are meant to be far less interesting than the way the the characters manipulate them. Watching our golden boy make decisions to further his career is what I feel will be the main draw of this show. Seeing his ambition and pride blind him and causing lapses in judgement or conscience is where the real drama will shine through.

The way the writers have him navigate between the light and dark can make this show as high a caliber as Breaking Bad, if they were to make the title a misnomer. Watching our protagonist start slowly down a path of corruption to further his career and protect his sister could make this a great character study.

The acting is the last thing I will touch on and I will say its superb for a pilot episode. Theo James performance is perfectly layered with presenting us with a supercop exterior but giving us glimpses of fear and uncertainty that his character has to contend with.

Chi Mcbride brings his veteran acting skills which compliment his characters veteran status on the police force, creating one of the most believable and sympathetic performances of a cop on television.

Holt Mcallany while in just a supporting role manages to steal each scene hes in with a certain charm and levity that he brings to his character. The closest thing to comic relief in the show his character of detective Joe Diaco could turn out to be a fan favorite if given more screen time.

Golden boy is a show that's well worth your time if you're tired of all of the run of the mill crime investigation shows and you're looking for a cop show that could contain a rich and meaningful character arc.

Finally something different other than a bunch of cops that are all best friends, busting criminals together, day after day....(hello Law and Order). There's conflicts between them, competitiveness between them, diverse characters, love hate relationships etc... I'm glad that there's a sister for the main character. There's a story besides catching bad guys. Something different is always welcome! I caught the 2nd episode (didn't hear about the show before that)and thought it was GREAT! I'm watching the pilot online to catch up on it. Great eye-candy too!! Never hurts does it ladies?? I'm so sick of my favorite shows getting canceled so I hope it stays a regular on the network! Heather

This show could've been a really good and long running show if it was given a chance. 13 episodes is all we get though. Network TV has really gone in the crapper lately where when they finally put together a good show they give up on the show shortly after debuting it. It's like why do they even bother putting shows on TV if they have no faith in them? And they cancel the show shortly after adding Michael Madsen as a recurring character, which sucks since he's one of my favorite actors and they suddenly cancel the show right after introducing him.

The show has a fantastic so the success of the show was not because a lack of quality performances on screen. It was from a lack of promotion by the network.

It really pessed me off that this show was cancelled. It was a really great show, and just when I started to understand it, CBS cancels it.... Of course cbs has cancelled several good show when someone gets really interested in watching..I mean look at the list, CSI Miami, CSI NY, Vegas,ATWT,GL,Unforgettable,Cold case,Numbers,With Out a Trace. Really great shows to watch, but will keep some sorry shows on. Like the one with No kid in it anymore, should be called, 2 men that Suck.. Really tho Golden Boy was a fantastic show. Always looked forward to watching it. Now I cannot stand to watch some of the puke shows that's on early Wednesday night and Sunday night. I don't know what people see in them.. It's time to bring back Golden Boy...