Cheers & Jeers: The Chicago Firebrand

Cheers to The Chicago Code for unleashing the bear inside Jason Clarke.

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The Australian actor is probably best known to American audiences as Tommy Caffee, the velvet-glove politician to Jason Isaacs' iron-fisted sibling Michael on Showtime's late, great Brotherhood. But as detective Jarek Wysocki in Fox's Windy City cop drama, he blows through crime scenes like a man on a tornado-like mission to uproot corruption. He's an instantly fascinating character, and Clarke charges him with kinetic energy.

Wysocki's got no time for partners, but it looks like the pop-culture obsessed newbie appealingly played by Friday Night Lights alum Matt Lauria could last longer than the standard one day. He's got no time to break up with his (as-yet unseen) twentysomething fiancée, even though he's still sleeping with his ex-wife. He's laser-focused on reteaming with his former partner-turned-superintendant (a slightly miscast Jennifer Beals) to bring down the smooth-criminal alderman (the magnetic Delroy Lindo) who's calling the city's shots — figuratively and literally. With his not-quite-leading-man looks and sui generis intensity, Clarke gives you the sense that Wysocki's got more layers than a deep-dish pizza. And that's after only one slice.

Did Jason Clarke blow you away on The Chicago Code?