Raines

Raines is a unique take on the detective/cop drama. I'll start by saying that Jeff Goldblum is one of my favourite actors, i just love his acting style, his voice and how he naturally brings humour to his scenes. Saying that, the character Raines is like a glove for Jeff, it is almost surreal watching him play Raines, he does it flawlessly, i cant think of any other word to describe it.

The show itself is really interesting and like i said has a unique take that makes it stand out from other detective/cop dramas. Raines sees and talks to the dead victims of the crimes he is investigating, but they are not ghosts, but extremely vivid hallucinations. I won't reveal anything but an event happened that caused Raines to see these victims. It is a unique way of character development for the victims and you find yourself caring for these characters much more than you should be. Other than that there is nothing really special about the way the crimes are solved or the crimes themselves but you won't care, you will be mesmerised by Goldblum's performance throughout every episode.

After 8 episodes this show got cancelled. Proof that modern TV is becoming dumber with every passing day. Instead of interesting and intelligent shows like Raines we get all the reality crap.

8/10. One of the better TV shows iv'e seen in recent years.

Having been force fed countless boring shows featuring the supernatural, here is one that grabs you from the beginning. It is not supernatural but the visions or hallucinations of a police detective. Since the vision, as I'll call it, only knows what Raines knows, we get to see the victims character develop over time. I prefer to think that it is Raine's extremely active imagination and the trauma of being shot and losing his partner, that in thinking through the crime and the evidence that brings the victims to life, but after bringing them to life now he has to deal with seeing and talking to the dead and solving the crime. The constantly changing personality of the victims, sometimes in a matter of minutes, shows us the methodical thinking of Raine's as he runs all the possibilities through his head. My fear is that this show will not attract enough viewers to stay on. Most people seem to enjoy the same boring cookie cutter shows that don't require any thought.

What a treat! We don't have to wait for a movie with just the right part to see Jeff. "Raines" is a perfect fit and it is a pleasure to see him on weekly TV! I was channel-surfing on my way to the History Channel, and, "Wow," I found Jeff and something surprisingly entertaining. "Raines" is different from the psychics in the current TV plots; a stressed-out detective having hallucinations is believable. I've grown older with Jeff watching him since "the Big Chill." Jeff seems to be one of those remarkable people who start out in acting with great performances and continues to deliver for his fans. Impressive. I may start to watch a regular series on TV again!

Raines is the most intelligent network television drama to come along in years. It is a drama because the direction of the action is dictated by the character, police detective Michael Raines (Jeff Goldblum). It is intelligent because its producers have had the good sense to put their faith and their money into excellent writers and actors.

The hook in Raines is that this particular cop talks to imaginary characters. But it doesn't take long to figure out that the murdered woman in the premier episode who pops up and asks Raines to find her killer actually represents that part of Raines' mind that seeks the solution to the mystery. She knows no more than he does at any moment in their conversations, and as he queries her, he is actually working out the evidence in his own thinking. When he has questioned a witness, he runs what he has learned by her, and she reacts as his knowledge of her would react. What we as the audience are allowed to witness through this device is the mind of the detective at work as he unravels the mystery. He actually quizzes his best witness, the murder victim, before our eyes. This may not be a stroke of genius, but it is certainly a stroke of brilliance.

At the heart of Raines beats the eccentric brilliance of Jeff Goldblum. I actually approached this first episode with some trepidation, fearing that Goldblum would gum up the works with all sorts of quirky business. He has been known to fidget and squirm to a degree that takes the attention off an otherwise excellent performance. But he actually underplays Raines to marvelous effect. When his characteristic wit does show through, and I mean wit in both senses here, he is both so intelligent and so funny in lightening quick flashes that they are gone as quickly as one notices them. So, in a sometimes passive exterior, we are aware of a formidable, volatile power. And, as if that isn't enough, Goldblum gives us true tenderness at moments in this performance. We simply don't see acting like this on network television often enough to keep track of it.

So we must ask the inevitable questions. Will the public appreciate a television program with the intelligence of Raines? It is slotted against CSI, and that's a tough sell. But the prospect of seeing Jeff Goldblum talking to people who "aren't there" might be a point in its favor with a mass audience. Will the producers of the show continue to invest in scripts as good as the first one? That's anybody's guess. A lot probably depends on reaction to the first episode or two. Here's hoping that Mike Raines lives a long and happy life, talking to himself via his inner cast of characters. Just in case the run of the show is brief, however, catch the brilliance while you can. (If you have an Intel processor, you can download the first episode at the NBC site.)

This series has a great deal of potential. When Detective Raines (goldbloom) begins working on a case to solve the death of a young woman he starts having hallucinations. The victim of the murder appears perfectly real to him, and throughout the episode he continues to carry on conversations with her.

Now here is what makes this premise and this series interesting:

1.There is nothing at all supernatural about his hallucinations. In fact they only know what he knows. By talking to these hallucinations he is really reasoning through the crime.

2. In the process this makes the victims of the crime very real to the viewer. Most crime dramas begin by finding a dead body and the rest is a chase to catch the killer, and none of the characters become fully developed. By the end of Raines however, the victim of the murder is a dynamic and unique individual.

3. Because Raines' hallucinations only know what he does, the character of the victim shifts through the episode. This is a very useful tool. Unlike most series that only focus outside events, these hallucinations give the viewer a window into Raines' own mind.

4. The fact that Raines' visions are only hallucinations and that he is aware of that fact makes this show much more interesting a series like Medium, which Raines has unfairly been compared to.

5. The absence of supernatural elements makes the series science-friendly. This is not to say I don't like shows or movies about the supernatural, but there are very few series or movies consider supernaturalism and reject it directly.

This quick comment is based on the first episode only.

I hope the quality of writing and the premise of the series continue to play out along this course. The quickest way to ruin what has all the earmarks of a very good series would be to hint that there may really be something supernatural going on, to move away from character development, or to bring in God, angels, or psychics as explanatory tools.

My vote would have been a 9 or a 10 for this series, but currently it is 8 because only one episode has been broadcast and it is therefore difficult to determine if the quality will remain high from the pilot episode. I have great hopes for this series, but many times series go in a different direction than the pilot episode would suggest, and so I am tempering my response.

At the moment I highly recommend the series---especially for those viewers who have grown tired to typical television clichés.

This could very well be the thinking person's crime drama.