Joan of Narcadia (that title was just too good not to steal)

I came across the review title "Joan of Narcadia" on TWoP and couldn't help but to borrow. ;)

This review is woefully late in coming thanks to the weather. Apparently nature's white demon flakes of sorrow (read: snow) mucked up the signal and the last 20 minutes of the show was cut off. Henceforth, I had to watch the rest of it online at a later date. Easy enough, one would assume, but when your brother is eating up all the bandwidth playing World of Warcraft (apparently some sort of something or other needed to be vanquished right that very second or whatever--I wasn't paying very much attention), the buffering doesn't quite buffer as one would hope.

Anyway, that I was so dedicated to finishing the pilot speaks to its quality. It wasn't perfect, but it has a quirky edge that kept me smiling and enough long-term potential that I was eager to finish.

I've come across some very mixed reviews online and I can see where this kind of a show would elicit some polarizing viewpoints. It's not a show for everybody, that's for sure. It's a cop drama, but it's funny and offbeat. It's sort of a procedural, but is more invested in the characters than the cases. Speaking of the cases, they're on the eccentric side, so between the cases and the cops, we have a matching set. It's got a gritty aesthetic, but undercuts the grit with goofballishness. I can see where some people would feel the show was kind of all over the place and that the tone was inconsistent, but I think they forged a nice balance of elements. I appreciate a good mix of light and dark and thought the quirkiness tempered the darker undertones very nicely. I can see where this show might not resonate with the novice TV viewer, but I'm a professional and welcome the challenge.

I think this show worked for me as well as it did because I went in knowing what to expect. Having come across a fair amount of information about the show prior to air, I knew basically what I was in for and didn't find it off-putting. While I've read that others found the first 15 minutes painful to watch, I actually quite enjoyed the introduction and was willing to give the show a fair shot after only the opening sequence. It really set the tone of the show and actually cracked me up pretty admirably.

The pilot opened on Casey Shraeger, played by Amber Tamblyn (aka Joan of Arcadia), a vice cop working a street corner with various other hookers. I was a little put off by the fact that she was in vice, because that's basically all female cops get to do on TV these days, but that quickly turned around. The hookers and Casey are all trying to score a, uh, client, but none are having much luck, especially Casey. To give you a glimpse into the tone of the show, it immediately switches gears from serious to quirky. As one of the hookers chalks their lack of success up to the economy, I actually laughed out loud. It had never really occurred to me that the economic downturn would affect everyone, right down to hookers and drug dealers. I immediately imagined some guy balancing his checkbook and thinking, "Yeah, gotta cut back on hookers..." Which cracked me up. This opening sequence was kooky and light-hearted, and while a tad cheesy, I really enjoyed it.

Casey's mother calls with some sort of problem with the maid (subtly pointing to the fact that Casey's family is wealthy--which seems unimportant at the time, but is actually pivotal--nice) and Casey tells her she has to go as she giddily informs her mother that, "I've gotta go, I think I've got a john!" Again, kind of cheesy, but Tamblyn's delivery is spot on and really funny. She said the line like she had just won at bingo. It reminded me of Alyson Hannigan and how her enthusiasm can make just about anything funny.

Anyway, the levity of these opening scenes soon changes as Casey's john turns out to be some sort of important cop guy who informs her she's been bumped up to homicide and that a cop has been murdered. The quick jumps between the gritty and the goofy pretty much sum up the tone and narrative approach of the show. It might be off-putting for some, but the up and down really works for me. Shows that are nothing but dark and somber tend to get bogged down, and shows that are nothing but sunshine and puppies tend to lack substance. The Unusuals makes for a nice blend and what I thought to be a successful balance.

The cases of the week didn't actually strike me as all the unusual, albeit quirky. It's the cops themselves that I think the title alludes to. As much as I enjoy Tamblyn's character, I have to say the rest of the precinct is even more delightful. Her partner Walsh (who is played by a guy who was the patient of the week on House last year--don't worry, I spent the entire episode trying to figure that out) is charming and the character, along with all the other characters, quite frankly, is intentionally enigmatic. He and Casey are the center of the show, but it's a good enough ensemble that even the supporting roles feel like leads. Each cop has his or her own idiosyncrasies and secrets and each had me intrigued as much as the next. Rounding out the cast is a detective with a terminal brain tumor (which makes him delightfully reckless) who is played by Chandler's old roommate Eddie (and who's looking hilariously 70s-ish here), his partner, who is certain he'll die at the age of 42 (as did several of his relatives), a type-A personality who speaks of himself in the third person (and who could go as Ron Burgundy for Halloween without even trying), a religious nut with a dark (and getting darker all the time) past, his partner, who has yet to really make a splash, but who is having an tryst with Walsh, and various other, more minor roles.

All in all, the characters all have something to offer and all add to the ensemble admirably. The crew works well together and have a fair amount of chemistry. One of the best aspects, I think, is that all the actors look like they could actually be cops (even Tamblyn, whom I was afraid would look too young and un-tough enough to pull it off). Nothing is more annoying than when the rough and tumble badass is played by a dingy blonde model (Eleventh Hour, I'm looking in your direction). Anyway, I think there's a hell of a lot of potential for this show and I'm really hopeful it finds an audience that is as charmed as I am. Aside from the characters on screen, there is a motif running through the show with a woman's voice on a police radio that works surprisingly well. It sounds cheesy, and kind of is, but what comes over the radio is pretty funny and it's exceedingly satisfying to see the perps she mentions in the background of a later scene or walking through the police station. Awesome.

The week-to-week crimes are entertaining and the show set up a solid over-arching storyline that I'm already very invested in. The death of Walsh's partner has repercussions on nearly everyone else, and when Casey is assigned to get the dirt on her new partner, it makes for a lot of ethical conundrums that I'm sure will play out in intriguing ways. Having seen the second episode, Casey has already had to make a choice between her orders and her partner, and I can't wait to see more.

Just from the pilot I was pretty charmed by this show, and now that I've seen the second episode, it's won a season pass on my DVR. It didn't take long for me to grow accustomed to the tone and pacing, but others seem to have found them problematic. On the surface, some of the characters seem to be cliches, but as this show makes evident from the very start, nothing is what it seems.

I think this show has definite potential and although I can see where it wouldn't work for some viewers, I'm really digging it so far. Based on the first two episodes, I give it a B.