I enjoyed the first season in spite of Poppy Montgomery. She is constantly rolling her eyes when other detectives are talking to her, batting her eyes, flirting with everyone like she was god's gift to humanity, preening her body to push her breasts in front of men, and smirking when she gets her way. She is supposed to be an ace detective, but she acts very unprofessionally for a detective. She also frequently violates all the rules, and gets other people in danger.
Her supporting cast of Michael Gaston as Mike Costello is great. He really can act. He sells the credibility of the police department very well. Another great supporting player in the first season was Kevin Rankin as Roe Saunders, the rookie detective. He did a very good job as the typical street cop detective. He was very credible too, and gone after the first season.
Daya Vaidya played Nina Inara, a detective with an attitude who actually was more attractive, mature, and interesting than Carrie Wells. She looked and acted much more professional than Carrie Wells. She sounded like a real police detective. She was very credible, and she was also gone after the first season.
All the good actors on this show were eliminated after the first season, when Carrie Wells (Montgomery) and her ex-boyfriend Dylan Walsh got "lent" to a major crimes unit.
Dylan Walsh plays Al Burns. He was Carrie Wells lover in the past, and decides to get her to join his staff, even though she has been involved in illegal gambling and counting cards for nine years. I guess the NYPD does not do any background checks? While Al Burns and Carrie Wells keep it professional for the first season, they starting being friends with benefits in the second season. Just another unprofessional twist.
Even though Burns is Carrie's boss, she is constantly disobeying his orders and police department protocol. Poopy reacts by rolling her eyes when she endangers the lives of other people, or herself. Her character is irresponsible and shallow in every way.
Dallas Richards becomes their new boss in the second season. He looks a lot like John Ritter when he was in his thirties. It is uncanny, and kind of makes the show feel even more like a comedy.
Richards also adds more unprofessionalism, as he explains every police policy as being a matter of needing financing for his department, or political connections for his personal power. His smug attitude justifies the frequent violation of police procedures by Carrie Wells.
The only plus added to the cast in the second season is Tawny Cypress. She actually tries to look and act like a professional detective, and she is the only one. They go to her character for facts and information, since it is implied that she is actually doing her job, unlike the rest of the cast.
James Hiroyuki Liao plays the rookie cop at the major crimes unit. His character is the computer wizard, and he is basically used like Garcia in Criminal Minds. He does not get much character development.
The first season had a big ongoing storyline regarding the murder of Carrie's sister when they were children. It was dragged out for numerous episodes, and several possible suspects were identified, and yet there was no resolution. The last possible suspect died saying it was somebody else. By season two, the dead sister story line was totally abandoned, and there was no final resolution.
