Hand of God
Created by:
Ben Watkins
2015-
Crime, Drama
Amazon Prime
TV-MA
I’m all for anti-heroes. I have no problem rooting for someone who doesn’t always do what people consider right. But, if you want to create a show that revolves around that kind of character, you’ve got to make that character appealing in some way. He (or she) must operate in a way that’s readily understandable. “Hand of God” doesn’t do that.
Ron Perlman, an imminently watchable actor, plays the character at the center of this series: Judge Pernell Harris isn’t a nice guy, and he cheats on his wife (Dana Delaney). Tsk tsk. He also hasn’t been so good to his son (Johnny Ferro), who’s in a coma at the start of the show. Despite that (or perhaps because of it), the judge thinks that God has decided to speak to him … through his son. God wants him to find the guy who raped his son’s wife (Alona Tal), which led to his son’s apparent suicide attempt. God wants him to do what needs to be done. Pernell is influenced by the pastor of the Hand of God church – this ain’t your momma’s idea of a pastor – and helped by an ex-con who also happens to attend the church. Uplifting stuff, eh?
Stylistically, “Hand of God” looks like many other dramas. It has darker hues, and it involves hospitals, courthouses, homes, and the like. While I watched the pilot, I thought of “Ray Donovan.” But this show doesn’t have a character like Ray. Judge Harris is the kind of character that doesn’t make much of an impression, which isn’t due to a lack of trying: He baptizes himself in a public fountain while speaking in tongues, for goodness sake. But that’s the problem – he tries too hard. This kind of character is much better when he stays strong and silent.
As a result of that kind of characterization, this crime drama lacks potency. They thrust us into the characters’ lives, but we don’t know these people. For this to work, the stakes need to be raised through the roof … and they aren’t. The one character who shows the most potential is Reverend Paul (Julian Morris), the aforementioned pastor. A seedy pastor character seems fresh. “Hand of God” could focus on him and his connection to Garret Dillahunt’s KD, the ex-con (another interesting character). Now that could work.
“Hand of God” isn’t bad. Well, not necessarily. It’s … blah. But its combination of dark subject matter and mediocrity borders on the offensive. It needs to be much sharper. It needs a bite. Like Pernell, it needs to be born again.
Verdict: Whatever
About: (Source: Hand of God)
After the attempted suicide of his only son, PJ, Judge Pernell Harris believes he can hear the voice of God, and the voice is telling him to find out who raped PJ’s wife Jocelyn — the reason PJ tried to end his life — and bring him to justice. Spurred on by a questionable pastor named Reverend Paul, he teams up with KD, a zealot and violent ex-con, and sets out on a vigilante mission.
