King & Maxwell - Pilot
Each year, the detective genre is a proven genre in the world of television. Every year, the pilots of police-units and buddy-cops are launched en masse. Apparently, the audience has a fascination with solving puzzles.
Understandable, since it is fun to guess who did it, who his or her accomplices are, and to discover the motive. For a moment we think ourselves detectives. The detective that is able to solve THE case which others couldn't. So we try to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. Sadly, the puzzle the viewer has to solve with 'King & Maxwell' is too simple and doesn't require all that much detective work.
After 'Rizzoli & Isles', TNT airs another buddy-concept with two opposites who are supposed to reinforce each other. Shane Brennan, the man who came up with 'NCIS: Los Angeles', based 'King & Maxwell' on the books of David Baldacci. How true the series are to the books will have to show. But in the pilot, Brennan inverses the roles and portrays the woman as the tough one and the man as the rational one. Sean King (Jon Tenney, 'The Closer') is structured and analytical, whereas Michelle Maxwell (Rebecca Romijn, 'Ugly Betty') is more impulsive, the brawns, and the marks(wo)man. Clearly not a lady to mess around with. Both have also worked for the Secret Service and are now private investigators (and King also has a lawyer degree). Of course it's no punishment to look at the actors, since Rebecca Romijn didn't lose her looks and Jon Tenney has to sweep the women of their feet with his stubble.
All the classic ingredients are there, but the pilot still remains mediocre. This is due to the "case of the week", which is not interesting and pretty clear-cut. As a viewer, you never get the feeling there's something at risk for the protagonists. King and Maxwell investigate the death of someone close to King, but the plot development is too predictable. The average detective viewer will see right through it. It's a shame, since it kills the entire episode and the attention curve is dramatically reduced. The pilot suffers from a mediocre script by Brennan, but that doesn't necessarily have to be disastrous. It's just a shame it has to happen to the pilot of the series.
However, Brennan has been successful with 'NCIS: Los Angeles' for years, and each week that series (when aired) ranks among the best viewed series of the United States. Though it has to be said that series airs on CBS, which can be received in more households than cable-network TNT.
What might prove to be disastrous for the following episodes, is the lack of chemistry between Tenney and Romijn. It is clear King and Maxwell have a common background and that should create a tighter bond between them than the one the actors show. They can act, but they aren't convincing enough to form a close and complementary duo. The final scene between them shows some progress and that's why one could chalk it up to start-up problems. What is great about the series, is the return of Ryan Hurst (Opie, 'Sons of Anarchy') to television. In 'King & Maxwell' he plays an autistic savant, Edgar Roy, who you can truly call a mental calculator. You just know the duo will go and consult him often.
'King & Maxwell' has the potential to appeal to the same audience as 'Rizzoli & Isles', 'NCIS', 'CSI' and similar series, which it will probably have to do if it wants to survive. The actors have the looks and charisma to carry the roles, so let's hope they show more than they did in the pilot. And my personal favorite Hurst deserves it, despite the mediocre pilot. Of course it would have been better if he had committed himself to somewhat more exciting (and more challenging) project.
Understandable, since it is fun to guess who did it, who his or her accomplices are, and to discover the motive. For a moment we think ourselves detectives. The detective that is able to solve THE case which others couldn't. So we try to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. Sadly, the puzzle the viewer has to solve with 'King & Maxwell' is too simple and doesn't require all that much detective work.
After 'Rizzoli & Isles', TNT airs another buddy-concept with two opposites who are supposed to reinforce each other. Shane Brennan, the man who came up with 'NCIS: Los Angeles', based 'King & Maxwell' on the books of David Baldacci. How true the series are to the books will have to show. But in the pilot, Brennan inverses the roles and portrays the woman as the tough one and the man as the rational one. Sean King (Jon Tenney, 'The Closer') is structured and analytical, whereas Michelle Maxwell (Rebecca Romijn, 'Ugly Betty') is more impulsive, the brawns, and the marks(wo)man. Clearly not a lady to mess around with. Both have also worked for the Secret Service and are now private investigators (and King also has a lawyer degree). Of course it's no punishment to look at the actors, since Rebecca Romijn didn't lose her looks and Jon Tenney has to sweep the women of their feet with his stubble.
All the classic ingredients are there, but the pilot still remains mediocre. This is due to the "case of the week", which is not interesting and pretty clear-cut. As a viewer, you never get the feeling there's something at risk for the protagonists. King and Maxwell investigate the death of someone close to King, but the plot development is too predictable. The average detective viewer will see right through it. It's a shame, since it kills the entire episode and the attention curve is dramatically reduced. The pilot suffers from a mediocre script by Brennan, but that doesn't necessarily have to be disastrous. It's just a shame it has to happen to the pilot of the series.
However, Brennan has been successful with 'NCIS: Los Angeles' for years, and each week that series (when aired) ranks among the best viewed series of the United States. Though it has to be said that series airs on CBS, which can be received in more households than cable-network TNT.
What might prove to be disastrous for the following episodes, is the lack of chemistry between Tenney and Romijn. It is clear King and Maxwell have a common background and that should create a tighter bond between them than the one the actors show. They can act, but they aren't convincing enough to form a close and complementary duo. The final scene between them shows some progress and that's why one could chalk it up to start-up problems. What is great about the series, is the return of Ryan Hurst (Opie, 'Sons of Anarchy') to television. In 'King & Maxwell' he plays an autistic savant, Edgar Roy, who you can truly call a mental calculator. You just know the duo will go and consult him often.
'King & Maxwell' has the potential to appeal to the same audience as 'Rizzoli & Isles', 'NCIS', 'CSI' and similar series, which it will probably have to do if it wants to survive. The actors have the looks and charisma to carry the roles, so let's hope they show more than they did in the pilot. And my personal favorite Hurst deserves it, despite the mediocre pilot. Of course it would have been better if he had committed himself to somewhat more exciting (and more challenging) project.
About the writer, Wouter Drenthen
Wouter is a big fan of TV series and films. He has been writing for MySeries.tv since the 25th of March 2013
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