Over
the past decade, I have fallen under the unwavering charms and boisterous
behavior of the gifted Niecy Nash, one of the superb, usually overlooked
talents in Peak TV. I first became aware of her in the underrated HBO hospice
set comedy series Getting On, which ran three delightful seasons and
earned Nash two Emmy nominations for Supporting Actress. Scream Queens, her
next major gig, never gelled with me but it was hard not to love her work as a
clueless law enforcement officer. I marveled at her work the last few years in one
of TNT’s better (and most likely among the last) dramas, a series where she
played the head of a nail salon who brings her fellow polishers deeper and
deeper into the Miami underworld. So when it was announced that she was getting
the lead role in The Rookie: Feds this fall, even though I given up on
the original series after the first season, I decided to give it a chance
because I’ve always liked Nash’s work. And it is much, much better than it has
any right to be.
Because I don’t watch The Rookie anymore
(its parked-on Sundays, which is cable’s Peak Time) I didn’t see her original
appearance as Simone, a school guidance counselor who becomes involved in a police
investigation. And I admit, the idea of a forty-ish African American female
joining the Feds is far less plausible than the idea of a forty-ish white male
contractor joining the LAPD. But just as millions were willing to suspend their
disbelief because they would follow lead Nathan Fillion anywhere, I was willing
to do the same because of my admiration for Nash, who I consider far more
versatile a talent. To the credit of the writers, they have done a far better
job putting Simone in this scenario than I think they did with the LAPD in the
Pilot. There’s far less realism, I’ll admit, but the talent assembled is so
good at their work I have less trouble suspending disbelief. Simone is partnered
with Carter (James Lesure) a by the book agent who is trying to figure out his
place in a troubled marriage. There’s profiler Laura Stensen (Britt Robertson)
who is working with an ex-actor named Brendon Acres (Kevin Zegers) who has left
a fairly successful career on a drama to pursue a career as an agent. The team
is headed by Garza (Felix Soles), who is under fire for creating the task force
in the first place. Carter has already been bribed, then blackmailed by a
superior agent who wants to bring Garza down and that’s before we learn that he’s
dealing with a heart condition.
One of the commonalities to all of
Nash’s series is that either as a lead or supporting she has a way of making
her co-stars look good. It helps that she’s invariably surrounded by a solid
cast. In Getting On, it was the legendary Alex Borstein and Laurie Metcalf.
In Scream Queens, Emma Roberts, Abigail Breslin and Jamie Lee Curtis
were just part of the talent. In Claws, she was backed up by Carrie
Preston, Judy Reyes, Dean Norris, and Harold Perrineau. All her co-stars in The
Rookie: Feds have a similarly good reputation for doing good, almost
unnoticed work in often undervalued shows. Robertson was superb as a rookie public
defender in For The People (the rare Shondaland series that was
cancelled too soon ) and both Zegers and Lesure had family ties to Katey Segal’s
title character in Rebel (which
bore a similar fate). Throw in the presence of the incredible Frankie Faison as
Simone’s activist father, who she’s currently living with, and you have one of
the better casts on a network series this year.
Some might doubt the plausibility of
a guidance counselor to be a good police officer, much less a Fed. I’d say: a)
it’s just as believable that a contractor
could become a cop and, b) given how much psychology is needed to be a
good counselor and how important understanding the psychology to being a good law
enforcement officer, I actually think it might be more useful than some people
are actually wearing badges these days. It is true that there have been a few
occasions that Nash has overplayed things but she has also proven that she has
a certain level of insight into how people think that I think some cops might
overlook.
Right now, I like Nash and the cast more
than I liked The Rookie at this same point. I realize the crossover potential
is built in (one begins on the parent show on Sunday) but I’m not certain how
much that will convince me to watch the original. Some spinoffs can often work even
if you don’t know the original source. I think Nash and the cast of the series
may be enough to carry a cliched procedural over the top.
My
Score: 3.5 stars.
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