Chicago Code - Review

Last night was the start of the season for new show Chicago Code. Well, after that episode I'm hooked.

It was a well-paced episode, they laid out the main plot very well and showed us, what's what and where the show is trying to go. It gave us just enough of a nibble of each character to get our interests peaked. It was what a pilot should be. It's from the creator of The Shield so you know it's going to be a nice gritty cop show that will show us what it's truly like to be a cop. It'll pull no punches. With that ending, that much is clear.

Let's start with Jennifer Beals as Superintendent Teresa Colvin. At first I wasn't sure that she was going to work in this role. She's been hand-picked for her position by the Alderman to start cleaning up this town. She's a woman in charge of getting the corruption out of the boys club that is the Chicago Police Department and the city of Chicago itself. There is a scene where she is handing out discipline to a police officer and she gets him "moved". At first I wondered the top cop in the city would be handling such a thing. Then it occurred to me, they're showing us, that she's a no nonsense kind of cop and she's not going to let anyone stand in her way as she tries to work on this huge task. She might be a woman in this club, but that doesn't matter to her. The Police Department is broken and she's the person to fix it. I was quite impressed with Beals after this first episode.

Next up we've got Jason Clarke as Detective Jarek Wysocki. What a great character, this guy loves being a cop. It's more than just a job to him and he's the guy that is going to be leading up Colvin's secret task force to clean up the city. I'd never heard of this guy before the Code, the biggest thing he's been in was HBO's Brotherhood. Of course only in Chicago, ok, maybe in New York as well. He'll decide what he needs to know about someone by the fact: Sox Fan or Cubs Fan. Brilliant. I thought he was just nutty enough of a cop, he gets the job done and he's got a rep around the department as being a great cop. He very much reminded of McNulty from another HBO Show, The Wire. I'm sure Wysocki is going to do whatever it takes to get the job done here, it's quite clear he isn't intimidated by anyone.

Finally we've got Delroy Lindo as the Alderman. Great job here, from the get go, you know there is something shady about this guy. He thinks he's super slick and got the wool pulled over the cops eyes, I'm guessing it's not going to take long to realize who's really running the show here. He does play the same type of guy in everything I've seen him. Doesn't seem like a stretch for him here, but he really will work well in the role. We want him to be a large intimidating man, so when Colvin does what she needs to, it'll seem that much sweeter.

I loved it and like I said, I'm so hooked. I loved The Wire, like a lot. This seemed a bit The Wire-Lite as they can't get away with as much on network television. Monday's are getting insane for me, I had 11 shows that I needed to record/watch last night and something has got to go. Mrs. Media Room doesn't like getting involved with new shows. We already watch a lot of television I will admit, but I'd hate to miss something this good when we're watching something not as a good. After 7 years, I think I'm going to have to drop, Two and a Half Men from my schedule. It used to be very funny, but the last year it's been going downhill and with all the recent stuff that's been happening with Sheen, it's taking away the funny for me. That's how good I thought The Chicago Code was, I'm dropping a show to make sure I can fit it in. That in itself, speaks volumes.



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