I discovered the show with Death House, the 10th episode. In my review I mentioned how impressed I was by the puzzling story, polished investigation and of course Gary Sinise convincing performance as Mac. However it took me a while to decide whether or not its other episodes deserved my attention. Indeed I worried that its episodic format would be as disappointing as in other shows like Castle for example. Moreover in the last what save some episodes are the irresistible protagonists, Kate and Castle, when even if I liked Mac I didn't relate to him nor find the other characters really interesting. Well now that I've seen this pilot I admit that designing a show around procedural investigations is not necessarily a mistake.
First the story was captivating and I really like how the characters seemed in distress and worried. Sinise was excellent as an obsessed Mac because his after shooting investigation had leaded him nowhere. Moreover it's like if the team had lost faith when people should help each other when chaos takes over. But hopefully his partners were there to remind him that he wasn't alone. In fact a new character triggered a chain of events that motivated them to finally catch the shooters. So the story was intriguing and inspiring. I specially felt for the guy in the wheelchair because the actor did a great job. You could feel how desperate he was and the situation wasn't easy for his girlfriend either. Did they find the strength to go on or things got worse ?
Beside the story and character development I was really impressed by how the investigation was written and designed. In Death House I noticed the gadgets but this time it was more about the patterns, clues and all these tiny details that could help them solve the case. From bloodstain pattern analysis, that reminded me of Dexter, to crime and shooting reconstructions I kept thinking how cool and smart it was. In fact the tracking was fascinating and I instantly that it would be interesting to work for them. It's amazing and inspiring what their heterogeneous and complementary skills allowed them to achieve. Mac's female partner knife theory was specially creative and the flashbacks were very helpful to better picture what happened because some explanations were technical.
All these great elements contributed to make this pilot a success. The story itself wasn't spectacular but it was twisted enough and well written. With such a strong foundation it's not surprising the show reached its 6th season. And with more original scripts, apparently delivered in some episodes, it should definitely be a must watch.
First the story was captivating and I really like how the characters seemed in distress and worried. Sinise was excellent as an obsessed Mac because his after shooting investigation had leaded him nowhere. Moreover it's like if the team had lost faith when people should help each other when chaos takes over. But hopefully his partners were there to remind him that he wasn't alone. In fact a new character triggered a chain of events that motivated them to finally catch the shooters. So the story was intriguing and inspiring. I specially felt for the guy in the wheelchair because the actor did a great job. You could feel how desperate he was and the situation wasn't easy for his girlfriend either. Did they find the strength to go on or things got worse ?
Beside the story and character development I was really impressed by how the investigation was written and designed. In Death House I noticed the gadgets but this time it was more about the patterns, clues and all these tiny details that could help them solve the case. From bloodstain pattern analysis, that reminded me of Dexter, to crime and shooting reconstructions I kept thinking how cool and smart it was. In fact the tracking was fascinating and I instantly that it would be interesting to work for them. It's amazing and inspiring what their heterogeneous and complementary skills allowed them to achieve. Mac's female partner knife theory was specially creative and the flashbacks were very helpful to better picture what happened because some explanations were technical.
All these great elements contributed to make this pilot a success. The story itself wasn't spectacular but it was twisted enough and well written. With such a strong foundation it's not surprising the show reached its 6th season. And with more original scripts, apparently delivered in some episodes, it should definitely be a must watch.