DESPITE A DISTINQUISHED CAST AND TALENTED SHOWRUNNER, THE CHICAGO CODE DISAPPOINTS AS MIDSEASON REPLACEMENT ON FOX

TELEVISION REVIEW: FOX'S THE CHICAGO CODE

I'm not going to lie to you.  I had been looking forward to Shawn Ryan’s newest creation, THE CHICAGO CODE, for weeks before it premiered last Monday.  Mostly, my excitement stemmed from his compelling work as the showrunner for THE SHIELD and the second season of LIE TO ME; but the series' rich, diverse set of characters also compelled me to watch.  Jennifer Beals, who played the feisty Betty Porter on THE L WORD for six seasons, now stars as Superintendent of Police Teresa Colvin.  The always intriguing character actor, Delroy Lindo sizzles as Covin's sleazy and corrupt antagonist, Alderman Robin Gibbons.  And Caleb Evers (previously "Luke Cafferty" on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) plays fresh-faced Detective Matt Lauria, the rookie partner of seasoned Detective Jarek Wysocki (Aussie Jason Clarke of Showtime's Brotherhood), the moral center of the show.

With the bevy of female protagonist dramas hitting the small screen in the intervening years since THE CLOSER premiered on TNT in 2005, viewers may wonder if THE CHICAGO CODE adds anything new to this almost overcrowded television genre.  It certainly does in terms of how it doesn’t hem and haul about the power of a woman in charge!  There’s no higher rank than Superintendent; and, because Teresa Colvin doesn’t answer directly to any man (unlike Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, or even Cagney and Lacey, before her), this new series serves as an important first step in the development of female protagonists on American television today.

In one memorable scene, after a perp questions Covin's authority to ‘to deal’ with him, instead of playing cleverly coy, or even disarmingly feminine, as would Southern Belle detective Brenda Leigh Johnson--before, of course, hitting him over the head with a metaphorical anvil of her femininity and, now squarely in his comfort zone, lead him to unwittingly confess his crime before he knows what hit him!--in a move more reminiscent of less-empowered lady detectives, Colvin ‘defends’ her honor by explaining herself:  "Superintendent means I'm the highest ranking cop in the city.  Every cop in Chicago answers to me."  Oh, so now we get it.  Thanks.  But, that's a bit too pat.  So, show me!

Hence, the problem with the serial design of THE CHICAGO CODE doesn't stop with on-the-nose dialogue.  In addition, the plot is choppy and hard to follow, and there are far too many instanced of backstory relayed in dialogue, rather than through compelling “action” that motivates the viewer to keep watching the show.  For example, we know from the voice-over at the beginning of the pilot that Colvin’s sole goal is to vindicate the wrongs committed against her father by the corrupt Chicago political system.  Then, a mere ten minutes into the episode, Covin's ex-partner Jarek Wysocki informs a young detective that his superintendent rose up through the ranks "faster than anyone in history;" that she was responsible for a cocaine bust--the biggest in the city's history; and that she secured her rise to chief of detectives in record time.  Finally, that Alderman Gibbons put Colvin forward for the job to curry short-term favor with black and female voters, but his plan backfired when his first-choice candidate suffered a heart attack and he was forced to appoint her to the post.  Now, it’s good gal, Colvin, and her good guy ‘partner in crime,’ Wysocki, against bad guy Gibbons in a cat-and-mouse game that defines the cop genre.  Oh, the premise sounds so good.  Yet, experiencing it in third-person dialogue and voice-over is nothing if not boring.

That huge caveat aside, besides offering a more empowered leading lady, the casting of this series is spot on.  At least on paper, Beals is a good choice for portraying a Midwestern cop.  She’s a Chicagoan by birth, and got her start playing a hard-scrabbled welder-turned-dancer in FLASHDANCE, similarly set in an industrial town.  So, it’s difficult to say precisely why Beals fails to deliver in the series premiere.  Suffice is to say that she never fully settles into her role as Superintendent Colvin during the forty-five minute pilot, and is upstaged by most of the cast including Jason Clarke, but especially Delroy Lindo.

Finally, one of the big draws of television as a medium is that it offers viewers an opportunity to get to know their favorite television character over the long haul—sometimes six or seven seasons or more—and almost as they would in real life.  I can’t imagine being able to sum up the damaged-but-brilliant British Detective Chief Inspector (DCI), Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren), from PRIME SUSPECT’s pilot alone; or, for that matter, THE CLOSER’s sugary sweet, yet tough-as-nails Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, who single-handedly turned around the once-fledgling TNT by consistently drawing over 7 million viewers an episode over the course of its now six-season run.

Either Ryan has lost his knack for penning worthy characters like Michael Chiklis (THE SHIELD) or Dr. Cal Lightman (LIE TO ME), or he’s hoping to deliver a show with high production values and a ‘soapy’ quality that brings in more viewers than his other two more critically acclaimed shows did; but, if that’s his aim, he might be sorely disappointed.  The overnights showed that the pilot of THE CHICAGO CODE lost nearly 3 million viewers from its lead-in, HOUSE, and was down a solid 55% in ratings and share from the Hugh Laurie powerhouse dramedy.

Again, that doesn't mean there aren't good reasons to watch this show.  First, it places unequivocal authority in its female protagonist.  Second, it's perfectly cast.  And these two already compelling reasons are only compounded by the contribution it makes to pushing beyond the boundaries of race on television today.  Colvin doesn’t play white.  Her ethnic background isn’t revealed, or meaningful, for that matter.  She’s simply a woman cop; and that’s refreshing.  With the exception of the exec-produced Jada Pinkett Smith vehicle HAWTHORNE on TNT, Ryan’s decision to cast a woman of color in the leading role is a relatively new and socially progressive development for female-centric television dramedies.  Following in the footsteps of other socially progressive shows like STAR TREK (1966-69) and I SPY (1965-68), historically, or THE CLOSER and GREY'S ANATOMY today, THE CHICAGO CODE offers a range of characters that more so reflect the true ethnic demographics of its North American viewership.  From Lindo and Beals to Todd Williams (Detective Isaac Joiner, formerly of IN PLAIN SIGHT), nearly half of the core cast is a person of color.  Kudos to Shawn Ryan for continuing to push the envelope of televisual constructions of race and gender.  And, for this reason alone, I’m sticking with THE CHICAGO CODE.  At least, for now.

Watch THE CHICAGO CODE tonight at 9 p.m. EST on FOX.

Vist THE CHICAGO CODE's Official Website