American Crime

This series is undoubtedly one of the best series we have right now.

Season 1 wasn't everyone's cup of tea. But, it highlighted so much that I've never seen on television before and was arguably one of the best scripted and acted series of 2015.

Season 2 is on a whole other level. Just a few episodes in and this series shows how all series should follow-up to previous acclaim. This season has one of the most original and intriguing plots I've seen in ages. I predict this season will also earn several Emmy nominations.

What really stands out in this series other than its acting and script, is that it greatly focuses on race, gender and gender roles, sexuality, drugs, wealth, power and status.

If one adheres to the belief that art reveals some critical aspect of being human, then American Crime is one of the best pieces of art I've ever seen in a network television series. The title may mislead viewers into expectations of a high-octane cop procedural; those anticipating such will be disappointed. Just like Breaking Bad (without the violence) American Crime operates on a much deeper, psychologically-taut, gut-wrenching level. It burrows into the souls of its characters, depicting each as they react to and evolve from a single murder committed in Modesto, California.

Described without spoilers, the series begins after the fact, immediately introducing us to eight main characters touched directly by the crime and who are bluntly stereotyped by race, religion, familial position, lifestyle or psychological make-up. They react according to type but as facts of the murder emerge, the burden of carrying these conventions under such inconceivable circumstances forces each character to evolve from type or submerge more deeply and desperately within it.

To say that American Crime reveals how messy life really is would be trite, a whopping understatement. These are extremely diverse characters, linked by a singular event and inflicted with raw, immense pain. They are extraordinarily fleshed out by the likes of Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Penelope Ann Miller, Benito Martinez and the always underrated but extremely gifted W. Earl Brown (Dan Dority from Deadwood, for a television reference).

Creator John Ridley wisely chose to develop the series anthologically; like True Detective, the characters draw viewers into a world most never see and while the journey is richly satisfying, it is also so wholly unsettling that one can't imagine it continuing through 12 episodes, season after season.

Just two episodes in, and I am hooked and heart-broken again. I just keep thinking "this is all around us, this is all around us." The strawberries that we ate for dinner? And the low cost hotel I drive by on the way to work..what's happening in those fields and rooms?

The new members of the cast are as strong as the old. I feel that the issues that American Crime addresses this season are wider-reaching, yet personal at the same time.

It's hard to watch bright and shiny commercials during the show - a weird juxtaposition.

I have watched the entire first season, and about half the secind season. I find the show a slow paced, but often honest protrayal of America today. I can understand how many people may not enjoy this show since in their opinion " it's not entertaining". I highly disagree, but different strokes for ddifferent folks.

There are many people that put down the show, because of an artistic choice by the director, to cast the same actors every season, in different roles. Some, in seeing the same actors seem to think, that the characters changed off screen in between seasons. The Muslim woman, having somehow acquired a Business degree, and dropped her religion to become a high powered executive, was given as one example. The drug addict thief, becoming a high school principal. The fact that they have different names seems to have not been noticed, and somehow this failing of the reviewer is used to Point to a supposed weakness of the show.

They also say they have never seen this before. American Horror Story does the exact thing brilliantly. Repertory Companies also do this on stage, where a company of actors will have several plays under their belt, and one night might put on ONE. and the next a totally different one. It is new on Television, but the practice goes back to the days of Shakespeare, and Marlowe.

This is like watching a production of Comedy of Errors one week, then seeing a production of Hamlet the next, then complaining that the show lacked cohesion, because... the guy that played one set of twins on week one, is now playing some guy named Laertes the next... " where is the cohesion??"

It seems to me that simply paying attention to character names, and plot, would show some people that... it's a different story, with different characters. The fault is in the viewers not understanding what is easy to understand, ..Not the Director's for lacking cohesion.

I guess this is what we get from viewers too used to Hollywood Pablum? When you have viewers so used to having Every Little detail explained to them... they cannot seem to use their minds when a show refuses to connect all the dots.

TL;DR: Superb Show, average network viewer not up to snuff to appreciate it.

Life doesn't happen in neat chapters where one part of the story wraps up neatly and then moves on to another. Life doesn't present its main characters always with perfectly coiffed hair and Hollywood-style makeup. And that's exactly why I'm really liking American Crime. It's a slice of life - a very sad and often confusing slice of life. American Crime festers in the dark side. It brings out the worst in humanity ... so far. I imagine as the series gets further along, there will be changes that come with plot revelations and character development. I'm enjoying the well-thought out plot so expertly put into words, the richness of the acting that brings that script to life and the occasionally brilliant and always good cinematography. The score by Mark Isham contributes just he right tension without becoming overbearing or, like so many other productions, just too loud. I can't think of a thing missing. This is the formula for a very, very good TV crime series. I hope each episode is as good as the first two that I so much enjoyed.