Wisdom of the Crowd

Tech entrepreneur Jeffrey Tanner (Jeremy Piven) forgoes his wealth and his company Allsourcer to offer a $100M reward to find his daughter's real killer. Carlos Ochoa was convicted for her murder a year earlier. Using his crowd sourcing program Sophie, he aims to find new evidence with his team of programmers led by Sara Morton. He partners with police detective Cavanaugh who was dismissed from her case. His ex-wife Alex Hale is a politician who wants him to stop digging up their daughter's closed case.

This is a workable concept. It's another show where a wealthy billionaire Batman tries to save the world. He has a box where answers magically appear and a personal murder mystery that he's desperate to solve. The magic box is too magical. The general idea of crowd sourcing is easy to understand but the show doesn't explain how the program finds the right people with the right answers. The show starts off fine at first but it devolves into Deus ex machina.

The other problem is trying to force a procedural out of the concept. He's trying to find his daughter's killer. It's a simple idea and the show should run with that at top speed. All these other cases keep detouring the show. The first season should be a tightly written whodunit that wraps up with a big climatic cliffhanger. It should be an intense mystery thriller but this is so much less. The show should go the procedural route only after his daughter's killing is solved. It looks like the show is ending after a 13 episode run. The mediocre ratings don't help but Piven's sexual harassment allegations in this environment is probably the final nail in the coffin.

I am not a regular TV watcher as there are few shows that interest me. However, I was intrigued by the premise for Wisdom of the Crowd. A crowd-sourced program to help solve crimes makes so much sense and makes it stand out from your typical crime-fighting shows. Jeremy Piven is a great actor who I have never watched in anything before, but I am enjoying his performance and all the realness of his emotions that he brings to each scene. It's an intriguing show and I look forward to it every week now.

A viewer wrote that this series is another concept of 'Person of Interest' which has been aired since 2011 with 5 seasons to date. I have never seen this so I cannot judge. It is only fair to review this new series on its own merits.

Having seen the pilot episode, I am pleased what it is about and moves along at a good pace, keeping one's interest. We have to wait how the story develops but for the time being I rate it 7 to start off with.

Update after 4 episodes: The story wanders and does not stay focused. Rating reduced to 6.

Latest. Now seen 7 episodes and am giving up! It's become an endless bore. Rating reduced to 5 as I wave goodbye.

This show displays a very dangerous concept. Very negative unintended consequences will happen. At least the writers acknowledge this at about 23:32 when a driver is attacked by a crowd based on very limited and incomplete information. If the concept for this show happens in real many innocent people will be attacked and seriously injured. Crowd "wisdom" is very easily turned into Mob Mentality where a few people with an agenda whips people into an emotional frenzy and sways them to commit acts they would never even consider as individuals. That's how, historically, there were so many lynchings in the past. Another potential issue is if the courts will even allow "evidence" gathered as shown in this show. Would that actually preclude any legitimate evidence being gathered and presented. This concept, if ever enacted in real life, could do much more harm than good in apprehending and prosecuting criminals. Very, very dangerous concept.

Honestly wtf people Cancel something else. I think this had a chance to get bigger and better. At least let us get to the point where we can know who killed his daughter. I hate you CBS... Hate You !!!!!!! If your gonna kill shows with plots at least find a way to finish it so it has closure so we have closure!!!