YGG’noise

The Unusuals according to an ABC press release is “like a modern-day M*A*S*H” that “explores both the grounded drama and comic insanity of the world of New York City police detectives, where every cop has a secret.” From this week’s premiere, it seems to continue a recent trend set by ABC’s recent addition of Castle, where the ever so popular police procedural gets a dramedy makeover. The science and procedure behind this industry takes a backseat while character-development is emphasized instead. In most other genres, this usually comes as second nature, but continually successful ventures of police procedurals such as CSI have always downplayed characters to place emphasis upon a more formulaic week-to-week mold that could easily accommodate viewers’ tastes for both suspense and problem-solving. Not to mention, it also allows for a rotating cast with relative ease.

Either method can work as CSI has shown on one side of the spectrum while serials such as Bones have conversely exhibited on the other. Castle seems to have failed this and is continually worsening outward from its premiere. While it has the strengths and charms of Nathan Fillion, I find trouble with the general set-up and attitude of the series. It seems as if the writers are caught in a tug-of-war between the spectrum mentioned before. On one hand, the crimes are being emphasized but not enough. Science and logic is completely ignored in favor or literary / narrative devices to solve crimes. It is somewhat reminiscent of Murder, She Wrote which only adds to the seemingly outdated flavor of the whole premise.

The Unusuals at least from its premiere seems to ameliorate this dilemma. Instead of dealing with a dichotomy between characters and crime, the series easily makes the jump and de-emphasizes one in favor of the other. the criminal or procedural aspect only exists to supplement the character developments, which is admittedly very intriguing. Amber Tamblyn stars as Detective Casey Shraeger, a vice turned homicide who quickly learns that her newly formed colleagues are all harboring their own personal secrets, many of which form quite interesting dichotomies.