Pilot: Merit Badge (I) (26 Sep. 2007)

Exonerated after serving 12 years in prison for murders he didn't commit, policeman Charlie Crews is restored to duty as a detective. As an imprisoned policeman, Crews had a very difficult ... See full summary »

Director:

David Semel

Writers:

Rand Ravich (creator), Rand Ravich

Stars:

Damian Lewis, Sarah Shahi, Brooke Langton

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Damian Lewis	...	Charlie Crews
Sarah Shahi	...	Dani Reese
Brooke Langton	...	Constance Griffiths
Robin Weigert	...	Lt. Karen Davis
Adam Arkin	...	Ted Earley
Brent Sexton	...	Robert Stark
Jon Sklaroff	...	Arthur Tins
Chad Lindberg	...	Lonnie Garth
Cheryl White	...	Alyssa Gibney
Larry Poindexter	...	Warren Gibney
Jennifer Siebel Newsom	...	Jennifer Conover (as Jennifer Siebel)
Brynn Thayer	...	Tyler's Grandmother
Braeden Lemasters	...	Tyler Hawley
Michael Cudlitz	...	Mark Rawls
Benjamín Benítez	...	Tito Juarez (as Ben Benitez)

Storyline

Exonerated after serving 12 years in prison for murders he didn't commit, policeman Charlie Crews is restored to duty as a detective. As an imprisoned policeman, Crews had a very difficult time and was regularly and severely beaten by fellow prisoners. Now out of prison and the beneficiary of a large financial settlement, Crews has a different, some would say odd, outlook on life. His new partner, Det. Dani Reese, doesn't quite get him and feels she has been saddled with a loser. In their first case together, they investigate the murder of a young boy who was shot to death. He was a member of a Boy Scout troop whose members all have fathers in prison so they have an obvious starting point for their investigation. Crew is also investigating the crime for which he was wrongly convicted and is searching for those who framed him.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | jail | beating | abuse

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 September 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 33, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ravich/Shariat Productions, NBC Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an early draft of the script, Charlie Crews was named Billy Crews.

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Goofs

Early in the episode, when Crews is unaware of a cell phone's ability to record a digital image, one of the cops asks him, "Where have you been?" Crews replies, "Federal Maximum Security Prison." The end of the credits clearly identifies him as having been incarcerated at Pelican Bay Penitentary, which is NOT federal, but is a State of California Department of Corrections Supermax Prison. Pelican Bay is consistent with the crime for which he was wrongly convicted, as his crime was not one that would have been tried in federal court, i.e. The State of California verses Charles Crews.

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Quotes

Dani Reese: No threats against his family?
Correctional officer #2: Not that we know, but we just work here. We go home after our shifts. It's the convicts who are here 24/7, they know what really goes on.
Charlie Crews: He means inmates.
Corrections Officer #1: He means convicts.
Correctional officer #2: What, you don't like that word? What do you care?
[Charlie turns to face the guard]
Dani Reese: Come on Crews, let's go.
Correctional officer #2: Yeah, we know who you are. Know you did your 12 years. Maybe you were innocent. Maybe not. It don't make no difference to us, because we know what you did to that correction officer in ...
[...]

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Soundtracks

"Dream Awake"
(uncredited)
Performed by The Frames

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