Caught an episode of THE BEAST last night. Patrick Swazye plays an FBI agent with a young partner. They are based in Chicago, one of the nation's most corrupt cities, so there's always plenty of crime for Swayze to investigate. In the episode I saw, he needs to get his hands on a drug kingpin who is currently incarcerated. He cuts corners a lot, and is what we would call an antihero if this were a movie. The episode was well executed, gritty, and revealed the seamier side of life in Chicago. Swayze is OK. The youthful partner is generic -- as is the case with all second bananas on crime shows like NCIS and WITHOUT A TRACE and COLD CASE. Will the show last? Probably not, regardless of Swayze's health (he has pancreatic cancer). It just doesn't feel as "authentic" as LAW & ORDER, which all new crime shows are measured against. It vaguely reminds me of David Morse's HACK or that old Edward Woodward show where his enforcer-for-hire character stalked the streets of NYC, righting wrongs that could not be handled by the police.
Review of The Beast
