Hello, I'm a new reviewer for Spoiler TV, and as you've probably guessed, this is my first review for the site, so I'd like to say thanks to the Spoiler TV crew for giving me the opportunity to join and hopefully I won't let everyone down. I'll be covering Murder in the First for the rest of the season, as well as the likes of Childhood's End, Black Sails, Da Vinci's Demons, The Knick & Manhattan when they're on air.
Without further ado then, welcome back, Murder in the First! The serialized crime drama series is back on TNT, and it's arrived with a pretty strong, gripping start to Season 2 that pulls you straight into the action and keeps you hooked all the way through. Whilst it's by no means the level of the likes of TV's top crime dramas, like HBO's True Detective, it's far from bad television and is certainly worth giving a look on a weekly basis. The first season took an interesting turn as it gave us Harry Potter's Tom Felton as Erich Blunt, a Silicon Valley tech prodigy who found himself linked with two unrelated murders, and we followed Detectives Terry English (Taye Diggs) and Hildy Mulligan (Katheleen Robertson) as they attempted to chase after evidence that would put Blunt away. And now, English and Mulligan are back, with a harrowing case that instantly sets the tone for season 2.
We open with both English and Mulligan looking for a missing undercover cop, Sarah, who hasn't been heard from since she started looking into an underground prostitute ring. They're interrogating suspects in a case when a school bus, full of children on their way to a field trip goes past. On the bus, one of the teenagers, who's being bullied, flips out on his agressor and pulls a gun, and starts firing. It's a pretty brutal way to kickstart the series and the pace does not let up from there, with English and Mulligan pulled into the manhunt for the shooters in a tense premiere that should keep viewers engaged. Written by Eric Lodal, the series co-creator, the premiere itself seems to set up an interesting new start for the sophomore season of the series. Whilst it's unclear at this early stage as to how a manhunt for a missing kid is going to be dragged out over ten (Edit: 12) episodes, there's no doubt plenty of red herrings that the show will be able to throw at us and there are already hints at a wider mystery with the links to the missing undercover cop, that could hint at some interesting material to come as things get off to an interesting start.
We don't know much about our suspects at this early stage in the game, but it's an effective introduction to the antagonists as well as a welcome return to the main characters, without much baggage from the previous season so newcomers looking for a Summer thriller series to watch can jump in here and largely not miss any major plot points, with Mulligan's family problems (her ex-husband is away in Vegas - and drunk, when she called him to pick up her daughter from school, facing problems with overtime work), being only briefly covered here. The main focus is all on the action and it provides some suitably tense sequences as the gunfight between the cops and the two teenagers on the bus is displayed effectively, with the show not afraid to show teenagers being gunned down. After the strong opener and once the main carnage is out of the way, The rest of Twenty Fifteen explores the immediate aftermath of the attack, the brief interrogation of the killer that they captured and the continuing search for the killer that escaped the police, ending on interesting note that should have the audience coming back for the next episode.
"Twenty Fifteen" is a well paced, well polished and interesting start to the second season of Murder in the First that will be interesting to follow over the course of the season. Both Diggs and Robertson put in decent performances as the returning leads and there are several new additions in the cast, including Emmanuelle Chiriqui, who Entourage fans will recognise as playing Lara Cruz, a member of the SFPD Gang Force. Whilst we don't spend much time with characters outside of Mulligan and English in the opening premiere, it'll be interesting to see what role Cruz plays as the show continues in the weeks to come.
Overall Episode Grade: B
Positives:
-An interesting start to the season that had me captivated, with there never being a dull moment.
-Mulligan and English are back! Some well executed action sequences, and some fast paced drama.
-Stylish, confident and well polished.
-Good cinematography.
Weaknesses:
-Is there enough plot to keep us engaged for the entire season?
-Nothing that we haven't seen before in terms of originality.
So what did you think of this week's episode? Are you pleased to have Murder in the First back? Let me know in the comments below!
