It's television's newest crime drama, and the subject matter it broaches may also make it the most important.
"The Bridge," FX's highly-anticipated new series, premiered Wednesday, allowing viewers a voyeuristic look into the politically-charged and racially-sensitive topic of the Mexican-American border, specifically that near Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas.
The show opens with a gruesome murder of an American judge and a Mexican prostitute. The bodies, severed in half, are placed directly on the line separating the Mexican-American border, setting the scene for a jurisdictional ground war between the two countries' authorities.
This allows the show to tread fascinating ground as it portrays the relationship between Mexico and America in an all-too-realistic manner while juxtaposing the law enforcement styles and approaches of the two countries, which are so close in proximity, yet so far away in ideas.
German actress Diane Kruger, who was so gloriously cast as Bridget von Hammersmark in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," is trying a little too hard to be awkward and introverted in the pilot as she portrays El Paso detective Sonya Cross. Between her clumsy, confused acting and her inability to shed her accent at times, she can leave the viewer feeling quite uncomfortable. If it wasn't for Claire Danes's perfect portrayal of the mentally unstable Carrie Mathison in Showtime's "Homeland," or Mireille Enos's ideal depiction of the tortured Sarah Linden in AMC's "The Killing," Kruger might actually come off as convincing. Unfortunately for her, the bar for obsessed, unstable female law enforcement officers on television has been set high, and I can only hope that she becomes more comfortable in Cross's shoes as the season moves forward.
Luckily, Demián Bichir couldn't be more in-the-pocket as he brings Mexican detective Marco Ruiz to life quite flawlessly and deftly.
However, when the two share the screen, "The Bridge" begins to feel like a not-so-comedic buddy comedy. Fortunately, its plot and subject matter is intriguing enough to keep it moving at a pace that allows viewers to move beyond its more obvious shortcomings.
Moving the plot along is the presence of a different type of serial killer than the ones with which television lovers are acquainted —– one who is politically motivated and who seems to use his bloodlust as a political message instead of just merely satisfying his own psychotic state of mind.
As the killer says in a phone message to the startled detectives, "There are five murders a year in El Paso. In Juarez, thousands. Why?"
It's an all-too-relevant question that is probably asked by many Mexican citizens and is probably avoided by many American politicians, and it is one that makes the show uniquely honest and significantly controversial.
This idea is quite novel and interesting, especially in the wake of shows like NBC's "Hannibal" and AMC's "The Killing," which serve only to create tension based on one man's egotistical mind games.
Not to say those shows aren't intriguing — they most definitely are — but there are probably too many of them, and the good ones are few and far between. So it is refreshing to see something come along and change the format of serial killer dramas in a politically-relevant way.
The side plots are also promising as Matthew Lillard, playing a drunken journalist who unintentionally becomes involved in the serial killer's nefarious plan, and Annabeth Gish, playing a ranch-owning widow who is on the path to uncovering her recently-deceased husband's dirty secrets, come out as quite intriguing and add to the show's potential.
Much like Kruger, Lillard and Gish still need to feel more comfortable in their characters' skin, but don't most actors and actresses need to do so in their shows' pilots?
"The Bridge" excels in its taut and seemingly well-planned plot and could make for several seasons of fascinating viewing if its female lead actress and supporting cast can hash out exactly who their characters are supposed to be.
Reach the reviewer at npmendo@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @NPMendoza
