TV Jots

New A&E Series a Must-See for Me

Tonight at 10pm EST, A&E’s new Patrick Swayze original series The Beast enters the increasingly crowded gritty drama market on basic cable. Whether or not the show succeeds will depend partially on how many viewers are willing to sample and stick with yet another crime show.

While previewing the first two episodes, I was surprised at how little screen time star Swayze seems to have compared to his Australian costar Travis Fimmel (The WB’s Tarzan). He plays veteran FBI agent Charles Barker, a results-oriented and effective undercover specialist who just might be walking on — or teetering very close to — the wrong side of the law.

An essential component of Barker’s mystique is consequently the true motivations that underlie his actions: is the man simply willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done and stop the bad guys, or is he actually no less a criminal than the criminals he pursues? That’s an issue the first season will presumably explore at leisure as its thirteen ordered episodes unfold.

Enter Fimmel’s rookie FBI agent Ellis Dove, who’s partnered with Barker and immediately begins to get some tough lessons on what life is like in his chosen profession. Besides the dangers of working undercover with crooks and possibly corrupt colleagues, there’s the problem of trying to have a personal life at the same time. The constant clash between the demands of his difficult job and the object of his romantic aspirations, pretty law-student neighbor Rose Lawrence (Lindsay Pulsipher), is a major theme of the character’s development.

Although much of the action during the first two episodes of The Beast is fairly standard crime-entertainment material, what makes the newcomer a must-see for me right now is the potential the series has to go beyond the typical. The acting is consistently engaging, the supporting characters add depth and intrigue, and — most importantly to me — Fimmel gradually manages to make you look past his pretty-boy exterior to the frustrating complexity of Dove’s situation.

I don’t expect another Training Day or The Shield, but the inevitable comparisons, along with the strength of the earlier episodes, is enough to make me look forward to watching how The Beast progresses as it ages.

First on the series tonight is the pilot episode: Barker and Dove partner up, but the potentially instructive relationship for the new agent is quickly threatened when (1) he begins to realize the toll it will take on his personal life and (2) Internal Affairs tries to recruit him as a double agent to help them take down his allegedly corrupt mentor. Who ever said being an FBI agent was easy?

Series Creators: Vincent Angell (Stand by Love) and William Rotko (Breach)
Series Regulars: Swayze, Fimmel, Pulsipher, Larry Gilliard Jr. as FBI agent Ray, Kevin J. O’Connor as FBI agent Conrad