PILOT REVIEW: FBI

FBI

Starring: Missy Peregrym, Zeeko Zaki, Ebonee Noel, with Jeremy Sisto

Created by Dick Wolf and Craig Turk
Teleplay by Craig Turk, Story by Dick Wolf & Craig Turk, Directed by Niels Arden Oplev

IN SHORT: Dick Wolf Meets His Soulmate (CBS)

THE PREMISE:
Dick Wolf has been making procedurals on NBC for decades and now he comes to the network that has been successfully churning out procedurals for close to 20 years. This one is centered on an FBI team in New York City. Special agents Maggie Bell and Omar Zidam (Missy Peregrym and Zeeko Zaki) lead the team in the field while receiving assistance at the command center from Jubal Valentine (Jeremy Sisto) and Kristen Chazal (Ebonee Noel). The boss in the pilot was played by Connie Nielsen, but she will be replaced by Sela Ward in a similar role starting in episode two.

THE REVIEW:
I remember when I first started this blog in 2010, I felt like like I was much more generous that the TV critics reviewing for publications online or in print. My opinion was that they were just jaded wit a bias against broadcast and many of these shows weren't as bad as they claimed. To some level, I still agree with that sentiment, but I have watched too many pilots like FBI over the last eight years to not feel like they were right on some level.

From the push-back from superiors to the Asian tech guy to personal anguish for the agents, I feel like I've seen everything in FBI's pilot a million times. The only time it started to have an interesting story was when it started to head down the Nazi/white supremacist path, but it didn't ultimately explore that story enough. Beyond that, everything was so predictable that I felt like I could be qualified to work for the FBI if it's that easy to figure things out.

The performances were serviceable. Missy Peregrym was probably the best while Zeeko Zaki had a few too many serious stares and Jeremy Sisto was trying a little too hard to be the affable authority guy. Connie Nielsen wasn't anything special and I'm actually slightly intrigued by Sela Ward in a similar role because she brings some gravitas to any show. In some ways, FBI is a more frustrating show than a laughably bad one because it's just so banal. I could see this being an show I might check in on once in awhile if the plot looks good and I'll inevitably be bored by the execution.

BOTTOM LINE:
Procedurals serve a purpose in a crowded TV environment but there are better ones out there. There are better Dick Wolf ones out there. The Chicago trio and SVU serve a similar purpose in a much better way.