“Call Me Crazy…” “You Say That Like It’s Supposed to be a
Leap of Logic.”
Wild Cards wasn’t on my radar until right before the season one premier. I started reading about the banter and chemistry between the leads, so I decided to give the pilot episode a chance. I’m so glad I did. I was hooked right away and looked forward to it each week.
Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti) is a policeman who was been demoted from detective to patrol. Max Mitchell (Vanessa Morgan) is a con woman who gets picked up for her latest con. However, when she offers some advice on a case she sees when she is in the police department, she is offered a deal. Team up with Cole and she will be her sentence commuted. The incentive for Cole is to get his job as a detective back. Max jumps on the deal, but Cole is much less enthusiastic.
Together, the two tackle a number of cases. There’s the missing butcher in a nearby small town. Ellis tries to help a friend find a kidnapped witness. Threats on the set of a long running vampire TV show end in murder. And Max becomes a hostage in a bank robbery gone wrong.
If you are thinking the premise sounds familiar, you’d be completely right. The show even jokes about it in the first episode. It knows what it is doing, and it isn’t ashamed to imitate those earlier shows at all.
And I didn’t mind because it works well. As I was promised, Giacomo and Vanessa have great chemistry together. It feels like they are having fun even if their characters still haven’t completely warmed up to each other. But you can see those relationships changing as the episodes progress.
The cases of the week are entertaining as well. Even if I can guess where the story is going, I enjoy the ride to the end.
As with most modern shows, the characters have some baggage that helps create some ongoing storylines. In Cole’s case, his brother was murdered, and the case is still opened. In Max’s case, her father (recurring guest star Jason Priestly), also a con artist, is in jail. And she has some bigger thing she is working on. One of them sees some resolution in the season 1 finale. The other storyline? That provides the cliffhanger.
Yes, that means I was thrilled to see the show was picked up for season two.
If I had one complaint, it would be that the show feels a little low budget. There’s nothing specific I can point to, but it just is slightly off. But that’s a minor issue. And it’s not a slight on the actors, who are all working hard to pull us in.
All told, we got ten episodes in season one.
The show isn’t too deep or dark. It’s a light concoction that goes down smoothly. But that’s what it is trying to be. If that sounds good to you, give Wild Cards a watch. You’ll be pulled in by the characters before you know it.
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