A New Lease on Life
Sarah Shahi and Damian Lewis in Life by Trae Patton/NBC Photo
I'm still not convinced that NBC's
Life is a great series, but tonight's episode (Nov. 13) is the best I've seen to date of a show that has toned down some of the elements that irritated me when it premiered. Detective Charlie Crews (the charismatic Damian Lewis), who is still trying to unravel the circumstances of the unjust murder conviction that kept him behind bars for 12 years, remains something of an acquired taste. But he is indulging his quirks (spouting Zen aphorisms, munching fruit) with far fewer mannerisms. There's not quite as much of the aren't-I-just-adorable mugging that turned me off in the first episodes.
It helps that tonight's case is a doozy, involving a corpse that would make TV's various
CSI teams do a double-take. Crews and his typically skeptical partner Dani Reese (nicely underplayed by Sarah Shahi) are called to a house that's nearly as empty as Crews' own mansion - his settlement after his release earned Crews a fortune, as well as the resentment of a police department that only reluctantly welcomed him back. Inside the house's kitchen is a man literally blown in two by a booby-trapped stove. Below the belt, he's altogether missing. The top half, shielded by a refrigerator door, is unscathed and sits upright on the floor, sans legs. It's grisly but not gory, and the more we learn about this mystery victim, the weirder the case becomes. In the guy's wallet: two IDs with different names and different addresses, leading to two wives who had no idea of the twisted secret life their hubby ("the most ordinary man I've ever met," says one coworker) was leading.
Following this mystery is great fun, and for the first time this season, I truly enjoyed being in Crews' company. The episode also takes some pivotal twists in the show's larger story arc involving Crews' extracurricular investigation into the murder case that sent him to jail. One fatal twist won't be much of a shock to anyone who watches TV regularly, but a climactic reveal did manage to surprise me.
Still, this serialized aspect of
Life seems to me the show's Achilles heel (not unlike the backstory finally taking shape on
Journeyman, a much less compelling NBC newbie). The lesson from last season, when so many serialized dramas failed (
The Nine and
Kidnapped in
Life's same Wednesday time period), appears not to have been learned. I get that Crews is seeking answers and wants revenge - that's ingrained in the premise of the series - but does his imprisonment have to involve a deadly conspiracy (which certainly seems to be the case after tonight's plot turns)? Loyal
Life fans, of which there aren't nearly enough to ensure the show's survival, may be thrilled by all of this, but it's the sort of thing that's likely to keep more casual onlookers at arm's length. Which seems like a shame, and a waste of a terrific actor like Lewis.
As tonight's episode amply demonstrates,
Life has the makings of a solid and enjoyable crime procedural. It has certainly developed more effectively than either
Bionic Woman or
Journeyman. And yes, I've tried to keep up with both of those hardly fantastic fantasies. (Of NBC's new-season underperformers, the delightful
Chuck remains my favorite.)
Anyone who has been thinking about giving
Life another look should watch tonight's episode. Better late to the party than never, and who knows if it will even be around in the new year (strike or not)?
