The Red Circle

Long Good Friday 012 – The Unusuals (2009)

By Ryan Brlecic

Search Google for “The Unusuals” RIGHT NOW. It is okay, you are allowed this intermission. What you will find more often than not is genuine clueless disdain as to why ABC decided to abandon this show like a female baby in China. This show is the epitome of this month’s focus in our Long Good Friday column. At the risk of going off into a much larger discussion on the merit of actual character development and story telling in modern television, it is sufficient to say The Unusuals was one of 2009′s best new shows. As a boy I had the good fortune to be exposed to classic television. This show was equal parts M.A.S.H., Barnaby Miller, and Homicide: Life on the Street. It managed to keep a lot of plates spinning and only grew stronger with each weeks episode. It is truly sad that amidst a stream of similar feeling cop shows (Law and Order: Pet Crimes, CSI: Topeka, and Southland), this off-beat look at cops as individuals was lost.

The show followed Detective Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn, in the role that made me take her seriously) and her transfer to Homicide from Vice squad. More importantly, her transfer to the 2nd precinct and it’s unusual assortment of detectives. She is brought in as an outsider by Sergeant Harvey Brown (Terry Kinney) to help him clean house. It is his assumption that her personal background, that of rich socialite, meant that she isn’t into being a cop for the money and therefore is incorruptible. She is immediately partnered with Detective Jason Walsh (Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker) as he begins to investigate his previous partner’s murder. It is in their initial findings that his now dead partner (and known corrupt cop) had started amassing files on other cops with clues to others on the take.

Created by Noah Hawley of Fox’s Bones and backed by producers Peter Tolan and Dennis Leary (both of Rescue Me) the show had a distinct darkly comedic tone. Those familiar with Leary’s equally excellent show, The Job will recognize the show’s structure and pacing. The Unusuals strength was in its character development. This was achieved by matching the leads with equally interesting supporting characters:  Det. Leo Banks (always reliable Harold Perrineau), who wears a bullet-proof vest everywhere he goes and is obsessive compulsive in his worry of dying at age 42; Banks’ partner Det. Eric Delahoy (Adam Goldberg, underrated/under-appreciated), who has a brain tumor(?) and tells no one as it slowly driving him insane; and Det. Eddie Alvarez (Kai Lennox), who believes himself to be the ‘lone wolf’ de facto face of the 2nd precinct and generally refers to himself in the third person. Rounding out the cast were Det. Beaumont and Det. Cole played by Monique Gabriela Curnen and Joshua Close respectively.

Jeremy Renner soon to be a familiar name from his star role in The Hurt Locker earlier this year turned in a stand out performance as ex-baseball player turned detective. Renner’s consummate approach to every aspect of his character’s motivation coupled with excellent writing made it easy for him to show you why he is one to watch. It was for similar reasons that Adam Goldberg’s turn as loose cannon Det. Delahoy  leaves you wanting to know more about the unfinished arc of his character (thanks to ABC). The places that he takes his character and the level of depth he puts behind him demands the show’s attention at times. Goldberg is seriously not in enough projects for an actor that seems to be in everything. His turn here hopefully will be remembered as highlight in his career. It would be criminal not to mention the purposefully understated turn by Terry Kinney as the man charged with corralling these characters. Also worth noting would be Amber Tamblyn, who is never unconvincing in her portrayal of an very green NYPD homicide detective. Her performance works well in giving Renner’s portrayal of Walsh something to bounce off of.

Ultimately the show finished it’s 10 episode run as order by ABC. However it was painfully obvious that ABC had no clue how to market the show or in turn grow its audience. If the show faltered in any way it would be found in the odd-ball cases that filled the gaps between the main storyline; sometimes they were just too unusual. The show’s stock and trade was in its characters. These cases were sometimes interesting, but this was a cop show that didn’t focus on the typical formula of locate criminal, arrest criminal, and convict criminal (rinse, repeat). This negative aspect was quite minor in affecting one’s enjoyment over the course of the series. In the end ABC  followed a FOXish plan of ignorantly throwing this fish back in lieu of one that was easy to digest and market (there are no points for actually trying in today’s mindless stream of television programming).

I deeply miss this show, especially where it left you story wise. These characters were not defined by their quirks, but rather by what they weren’t showing us. Each character had their share of secrets to reel you in. As a viewer you found yourself eagerly watching the detectives. This show had it’s share of WTF moments, a good example of which is illustrated by Det. Delahoy and Banks convincing interrogation of an unsuspecting perp using a 3-in-1 printer as the latest in lie detection equipment. In the more than capable hands of Goldberg and Perrineau, the scene rises above what could have been plain stupidity. Needless to say, to those that discovered it in its initial run and to those yet to, it will be missed. Every attempt to peg the show down only served to remind you that the only way to describe it was, UNUSUAL.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately at this time The Unusuals is not available to watch (torrent, wink, wink). It is usually a rule that all of our Long Good Friday’s be readily accessible to watch. Considering the subject of this month’s focus and the utter crime committed by ABC, we felt it necessary to break with the confines of the column.

Editor’s Re-Note: Thanks to a wonderful commenter below, we can now point you a website that legally hosts the entire series as On-Demand streaming. It’s called Crackle, and you can find the series HERE. Extra love and thanks to mystie88.

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