A Man of Steal
Thief: A caper bogged down in gloom
Fact: TV is oversaturated with crime dramas. But is the answer to suddenly make con artists the new action heroes?
At least the cocky crooks of AMC's Hustle ply their trade with charm. This month's arrivals are more problematic. NBC's glossy Heist, which premiered last week, annoys by being weightlessly glib, while FX's grittier Thief (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET) bores by being relentlessly glum.
Set in New Orleans, Thief dishes up a surprisingly flavorless gumbo of guilt, grief and greed. Adding necessary spice: Andre Braugher, in another performance of cunning intelligence and unflinching intensity, as master thief Nick Atwater. As the series begins, Nick's crew pulls off a sloppy job in San Francisco that embroils them in a web of deadly intrigue back home. Among those dogging them: an assassin for the Chinese Mafia and a compromised cop who, like nearly everyone in this borderline-pretentious series, is seeking redemption.
Further complicating matters is a personal tragedy that forces Nick to bond with his pouty and understandably suspicious teenage stepdaughter. Their domestic interludes continually bring Thief to a thudding halt.
But then, a miasma of existential, humid gloom hangs so pervasively over this show that even when bad things inevitably happen, I found it hard to care and harder to be surprised.
Maybe it's a good thing that FX only ordered a six-episode run (in the style of many British serials). With Thief, less is almost certainly preferable to more.
Save Everwood
Memo to CW (the network emerging from a WB-UPN merger): If you want to make a good impression this fall, do not dismiss Everwood, which is returning from a long hiatus with two hours (Monday, March 27 at 8 pm/ET, WB) that feel like a wonderful reunion with much-missed friends. It's still TV's best family drama, a truly endangered species. Exploring the heartbreaks and heartfelt dreams of its multigenerational cast of characters with wit and warmth, Everwood is an evergreen that deserves a new chance on a new network.
