PILOT REVIEW: Golden Boy

GOLDEN BOY

Starring: Theo James, Kevin Alejandro, Bonnie Somerville, Holt McCallany, Stella Maeve, and Chi McBride

Created by Nicholas Wootten
Written by Nicholas Wootten, Directed by Richard Shepard

Golden Boy is a unique cop drama that follows the meteoric rise of Walter Clark (Theo James) from a cop to Police Commissioner at age 34. The series opens with Clark as Commissioner and then rewinds seven years to the start of his ascent with a heroic rescue and promotion to homicide. There, he meets a gruff but supportive partner in Don Owen (Chi McBride) as well as three other homicide officers (Kevin Alejandro, Bonnie Somerville, and Holt McCallany). Rounding out the main cast is Walter's troubled younger sister Agnes (Stella Maeve).

THE GOOD: I was skeptical of this premise but they really sold it well in the pilot. The flashforwards at the very beginning of the episode and at the very end provided lots of intrigue into where these characters will go if the show can survive long enough. Theo James is strong in the lead role, he's unlikable at times but he's supposed to be. He's a bit of an antihero and plays it well. The real standout in the cast is Chi McBride and it's easy to see why they strayed a bit from their original setup to emphasize the partnership between McBride and James. The other characters are solid but not spectacular, though it looks like they will be headed in interesting places.

THE BAD: There were times where the case of the week aspect of the show dragged. I'm fine with this show being a case of the week style, but it needs to be interesting and this one wasn't at times. The show also needs to be careful to not make the meteoric rise too meteoric. Seven years is quick for what's happening but a long time for a TV show. If the show is fortunate enough to live (and early indications aren't promising), they can't get to or near their endpoint too quickly. The show also needs to avoid overly dramatic moments like Walter shaking as he's about to shoot. It didn't play right to me.

BOTTOM LINE: All in all, this was one of the better drama pilots of the season. It took a concept that could be almost gimmicky and made it work in a believable and interesting way. The performances were strong in general with McBride as a major standout. It didn't do that well in the ratings but I'm willing to stick with it for the season. It's been a few years since there was a great cop show (the ill-fated Detroit 1-8-7). This has a chance to be the next one. Let's hope CBS is patient.