Taye Diggs
Kathleen Robertson
Richard Schiff
James Cromwell
Nicole Ari Parker

Created by:
Steven Bochco
Eric Lodal

2014-
Crime, Drama, Mystery
TNT
TV-MA

TNT’s “Murder in the First” is a police procedural with nothing new to offer. That’s fine; but it needs to be executed expertly to overcome that. That’s not what happens here. It’s OK, but unnecessary. If this is TNT’s replacement for “Southland,” then they’ve made a grave mistake. This show doesn’t have the same pacing, quality of writing and acting, or tension of “Southland.” They’re on completely different levels.

The first season of “Murder in the First” will focus on one case for the whole season à la “The Killing” and “True Detective.” So that’s nothing new. The case revolves around a young computer expert (again, nothing new) who’s being investigated by two detectives played by Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson. The detectives’ personal lives provide the subplot: In the pilot, Diggs’ wife is about to die, and Robertson is a single mom with a young daughter. Again … nothing new.

Furthermore, I never buy what Diggs is selling, and his performance in this show’s pilot is no exception. He’s not bad here; for him, this is decent work. He’s just never fully believable. He always does a little too much: During a lot of the pilot’s moments, perfect stillness would have worked much better for his role. And, when he needs to explode, it doesn’t work. He’s telegraphing to us that he’s acting, instead of just doing it.

Despite my reservations regarding Diggs’ performance, the rest of the cast is professional. But where’s the material? Nicole Ari Parker was not featured in the pilot (a mistake) but is a part of the main cast. Maybe she’ll know what to do with this.

“Murder in the First” needs to either knock us out or suck us in. Instead, it’s in the no-man’s land in between. It doesn’t come close to living up to the good and great examples of this genre (a few of which I’ve mentioned before). Where’s the spark, the punch, the hook? I won’t be watching this beyond the pilot: Not because it’s bad, but because it has nothing interesting to offer.

Verdict: OK

About: (Source: mitf)

Murder in the First follows homicide detectives Terry English (Taye Diggs) and Hildy Mulligan (Kathleen Robertson) as they investigate a multitude of tragedies in San Francisco.