December 03, 2003
Line of Fire: The New Patriotism
The new television show 'Line of Fire' is off to a teasing start.
After one episode I think that this program is going to annoy the hell out of me before it entertains me. It all comes down to the center of gravity of this drama, a woman who has ingratiated herself into the FBI because her husband was killed on September 11th.
Concieving that I can buy that premise, that such a headstrong loner who resists human contact and has a problem with authority could pass the drills of Quantico, there are still issues with this show that have begun to grate on my nerves.
Firstly, it's clearly a show designed to have chick appeal. Watching the good-guy bad-guy dynamics are coming up in chunks of intelligent, manicured women on the side of the law, and little better than a moll and forgotten wives on the other side.
Secondly, it's clearly a show designed to have white appeal. Only soul music plays in the environments of the organized criminals. Loudmouth lowlife 'Crazy Jazz' is brought into the witness protection plan with some of the most bloodless manipulation I've seen on TV. And finally and centrally, our hunky, bubbly black male interest is identified as a less than ethical cadet who prattles on about his mother and who comes on with lines like 'You've already made me a better man'.
We can clearly expect the heroine of the story to go there and get warmed up by this studly soul encounter, but it's going to be a long hairy ride for anyone without whitechick fantasies.
The show has got the production values, the scattershot pacing and other various earmarks of the engrossing drama. It's not stupid and thin like 'Threat Matrix', it's not implausibly situational like '24' and it doesn't have a supernatural protagonist like 'Alias' almost does. This one is headed for the arena of CSI, except the Line of Fire characters are shot through with values, ethics and loyalties rather than technical proficiencies and brainwork. This one is about a war brewing between to [dysfunctional?] surrogate families, the FBI on one side and the Mob on the other.
It started with a Mexican standoff between two men, and a lot of folks are going to get wrapped up into it, including our new patriot. Now let's take a closer look at her symbolism.
She married a guy, and apparently had no kids. He was getting promoted at the Pentagon when a plane crashed into him. She has been transformed into a person obsessed with getting even and will confront her every fear and weakness in order to make herself a vehicle for the FBI in counterterrorism. As part of her bargain, she'll fight ordinary bad guys for 4 or 5 years in preparation for the Osamas of the world. She's living for that revenge. "Tell me what you want me to do", she begs her new CO.
The writers, I hope, are preparing to shock her with some sloppy tolerance. I expect that she will learn to be a trooper, cohesive and in cahoots with some ugliness she is not prepared for. I expect that she will be a blank filled with the guts and glory of service.
This idea is diametrically different from that of CSI which is why I highlight the difference. The CSI guys fight crime as a dedication to craft. Service for them is a matter of professionalism - people who could do something else, perhaps even anything else do the moral thing. When our guy from CSI Miami interviews a suspect, he knows he's going to nail the guy in a matter of time, it's a logical puzzle.
The busts in 'Line of Fire' are likely to be of a different sort. Our heroine will learn the craft on the go, her hunger can only be satisfied in the busting. It won't be about the method for her, but for the results. This is the contrast that I see and is critical to the idea of service and patriotism.
If a patriot is someone who is dedicated to a patriotic end, then service to the FBI is really no different to Mob loyalty. The exploration of this realm is what the writers of 'Line of Fire' will put us through. How they do so will be a matter of interest to me. You better watch out.
Posted by mbowen at December 3, 2003 12:32 PM
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Comments
My sincere hope is that the FBI trainee is not the central focus of the FBI side story. The scene where she rolls out the 9/11 pap was about as subtle as the guy with the sledge hammer in the first few minutes of the show. It was my understanding that the focus from the FBI side would be on the Leslie Hope character, "Cohen", who leads the Richmond unit - but you sure couldn't tell from the pilot. I really liked David Paymer as the the mob leader, but so much had been made in the pre-show build-up about his playing against type that it almost ruined it for me. You're right about the production values and I sat there wondering what they were thinking about with the black roles as well. Weak effort there.
Nice review. I wonder if they'll get more than eight episodes to build on. Now that you have me thinking about this show I'll probably have to watch it again to confirm my initial suspicions that Paymer won't be enough to save it.
Posted by: Kurt at December 3, 2003 07:57 PM