Line of Fire

This could develop into an interesting program. The use of Richmond as a backdrop is refreshing. The city offers locations more interesting than the housing projects of Baltimore. So far, the location scenes and the references to Richmond have been accurate. I hope this continues.

Believability suffers when you see an FBI killed while standing straight up in front of a bad guy with a gun instead of going for cover. And later when, a bunch of bad guys jump out of car with guns on what should be a busy dock, but there is no one to notice.

Leslie Hope as the SAC, could become one of the best female police characters currently on TV if given the chance. The female trainee agent is made to hate. I hope she becomes a more believeable character.

Having now seen the first two episodes of Line of Fire, I'm convinced that this series will be a top drama this season. It pulls no punches and taps directly into the real life complex interplay between mob and FBI. The characters are well developed and the acting is as good as it gets. Brian Goodman, for one, has jumped into this role with a passion and his instinctive moves are just enough for his bad guy character. Kristin Snyder is compelling and compassionate as the First Lady of the mob. For me, the two best shows currently airing are 24 and Line of Fire.

When this show came on it blew my mind. It was dark, gritty, and at first better even than 24. David Paymer was a classic cold-blooded villain and Leslie Hope was great against type of her 24 character, nail-tough.

In one episode, everything changed. It was when the FBI was pursuing a criminal pregnant woman, who ultimately abandoned her newborn in a dumpster. The baby was found alive and well and the episode had a warm, happy ending. No, I am no sadist who enjoys the sight of dead babies, but the whole point of a series like this is to show us what we do not want to see, along the lines of Saving Private Ryan.

With each successive episode it lost its edge, the fate of so many good shows. In less than a season, really half a season, it went on the journey NYPD Blue took over the course of a decade, throwing in curse words and partial nudity to appear gritty, but really becoming all too soft. I loved the show, then I was glad to see it canceled.

Now that February sweeps are upon us, it appears that "Line of Fire" has been put on the injured reserve list for awhile if not banished from the airways permanently. It's too bad, because its 9th episode, (broadcast on on Feb. 3) "The Senator," is the best in the series so far, in my opinion. All three of the major story lines were compelling, and it's nice to see Jonah be a part owner of a minor league baseball team. I guess good things happen to those that are bent on revenge, I guess. Maybe he will be the George Steinbrenner of the bush leagues. I don't know if it's coincidence or what, but another factor that made this episode so good was the near or complete absence of the show's most annoying characters: chain-smoker Lisa, mother-to-the-world-Paige, puncher of the heavy bag Jennifer, and the one FBI dude who's always mad about everything. Hopefully, we'll see a new and improved version of this show in the future.

Paige Van Doren (Leslie Bibb) and Todd Stevens (Jeffrey D. Sams) are FBI trainees in Quantico. They get assigned to the Richmond office headed by Lisa Cohen (Leslie Hope). Roy Ravelle (Anson Mount) is undercover in the local mob run by Jonah Malloy (David Paymer). Donovan Stubbin is the top lieutenant who vouched for Roy. Agent Sampson is struggling to balance family and work. The show opens with Agent Sommers and bookie Charlie killing each other during a foot chase. Sommers' partner Amiel Macarthur arrives late to the scene.

I really like this police drama. I especially like the back and forth between cops and criminals. It has the sensibility of a The Departed. Maybe a more compelling opening killing could stretch out the investigation for the whole first season. The show does lose me in episode eight. It's way too convenient to have Sampson's daughter taken hostage. It may be more reasonable if Sampson isn't right there. It doesn't help that the girl gets shot two episodes later and almost dies. They really have it out for that girl. The show needs to pick one story or the other. They can't have both. The last episode feels a bit orphaned like something that could be stuck into the schedule at any time. All in all, I love this show. I also understand its problem as a pre-binge show. There is too much serial element to be just a regular network cop procedural.