PILOT REVIEW: Tommy

TOMMY











Starring: Edie Falco, Michael Chernus, Adelaide Clemens, Russell G. Jones, Olivia Lucy Phillip, Vladimir Caamano, Joseph Lyle Taylor and Thomas Sadoski

Created by Paul Attanasio
Written by Paul Attanasio, Directed by Kate Dennis

OK, so the first time I tried to watch Tommy, I fell asleep. Unlike some people, this rarely happens to me with TV so that might be an indictment on Tommy but I also think it had to do with me being really tired and it being late. I think that because upon second viewing, I actually found Tommy to be pretty decent.

There are times where Tommy feels like it could be called Blue Bloods: Los Angeles. After all, it is centered on a police chief, this time in LA and with the city's first ever female chief, Abigail Thomas or "Tommy" (Edie Falco). She has her team but also contends with adversaries such as Mayor Buddy Gray (Thomas Sadoski), allies to the former disgraced police chief and a difficult relationship with her daughter, Kate (Olivia Lucy Phillip).

There are elements of Tommy that certainly feel like any other cop show: a leader doesn't go about handling issues in the "traditional way" and instead fearlessly blazes her own trail but - surprise! - she's got some problems in her personal life. It also tries awfully hard to be relevant in 2020 with an immigration plot in the pilot episode. Not that is isn't relevant for Los Angeles or today, but it also seems like a deliberate attempt to be something other than a generic CBS procedural without having to actually say anything new or interesting about the topic.

Where Tommy succeeds though is the cast. It starts with Edie Falco. Of course she made her name on The Sopranos, which I am still making my way through. She was easily the best part of the otherwise troubled Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders. And she's certainly the best part of this show. In some ways, it feels a little beneath her. She has the chops to be able to be in a really well-written drama and it could even be with this premise. Though this is not that drama, she can certainly elevate the material. Thomas Sadoski is intriguing too in a role completely different from Life in Pieces. I'd like to see a show with this cast and premise, but on a different network.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
I have heard it gets worse from the premiere but I'm willing to see for myself, so yes.