Reckless - Pilot

Crime series are very popular at the moment. Whether it’s about a FBI team that’s being followed or a couple of lawyers, which is the case in CBS’s newest crime drama ‘Reckless’. This series focuses on lawyer Jamie Sawyer (Anna Wood, ‘Deception’), who recently moved to Charleston, South Carolina from Chicago. She and (assistant) district attorney Roy Rayder (Cam Gigandet, ’Twilight’ movies), one of the other main characters, have been on opposite sides of the courtroom several times now, and have gotten to know each other a little bit over time. Roy is going through a tough time: recently divorced he doesn’t get to see his daughters very often. He and Jamie flirt a lot in between their cases in court, their chemistry is amazing from the start.

During the pilot we see a case that Jamie and Roy are working on. It’s a typical crime series case, nothing viewers haven’t seen before. But it’s entertaining, and that’s all that matters in the end. Although there’s a little case involved as well, it’s the big case that binds Roy and Jamie together, which is the main focus of this show. A case that I expect to be one of the big storylines during this first season. Cop Lee Anne Marcus (Georgina Haig, ‘Fringe’) gets fired because of her behavior and comes to Jamie for help. This is the start of a big scandal within the police force in which detective Terry McCandless (Shawn Hatosy, ‘Southland’) plays a big part.

Reading some of the comments online I found out that some Americans had some trouble with the stereotypes and accents on the show. Since I’m not from the States it’s a bit difficult for me to have any opinion about this, but I personally didn’t find any of the accents over the top or fake. It was clear that some prejudices about the southern states were played out here and there, but nothing was really that offensive or ridiculous in my opinion. It’s a TV series, fiction, so of course it’s not all based on real life situations. Even though I can understand some of the criticism, I for one don’t agree with any of them whatsoever.

Roy’s influential ex-father-in-law, Dec Fortnum (Gregory Harrison, ‘Logan’s Run’), offers him the chance to become City Attorney during the first episode. Roy accepts, which indirect makes him Jamie’s rival in the courtroom again, since she’s handling the new case involving the police force as well. Meanwhile Jamie is in a relationship with homicide detective Preston Cruz (Adam Rodríguez, ‘CSI: Miami’), a relationship that comes across as pretty stable at first. But this could all change now that Jamie’s new case might hit a little bit too close to home. Besides these characters there are also some supporting roles for Jamie’s paralegal Vi Briggs (Kim Wayans, ‘In Living Color’) and Deputy Chief Holland Knox (Michael Gladis, ‘Mad Men’).

‘Reckless’ isn’t a show that tells us a whole new story or shows us anything we haven’t seen before. But that’s not necessary to make a good series in my opinion. With an amazing cast, great storylines so far and a really good big twist at the end of the first episode, the creators made a really strong pilot. The trailer already showed a lot of potential and after watching the pilot episode this feeling only became stronger. If they keep up this level they might very well stand a chance, surviving after this first season. I sure hope they get the southern viewers on board during the next couple of episodes. One thing I can say for sure already is that they’ve already got one Dutch fan over here!