Vegas- pilot

By Michaelchiklis.jpg: Albert Domasin from Los Angeles, united states derivative work: Beao (Michaelchiklis.jpg) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Oh great, is this another CBS procedural? (Yes) Let’s hope it’s more The Good Wife and less CSI. This show loses points for being a CBS show, premiering so quietly, and for not being on Hulu the next morning. The CBS player sucked last year, and we’re in no mood to try it again. We didn’t know this show was set in 1960, but we like that. We like Randy Quaid’s sweet fighting skills. It was also good to see Carrie Ann Moss. Looking good! TV makeup suits her. We like most of the casting choices. The mayor recruits Ralph (Quaid) to be the new sheriff, but he clashes with the local mobster, played by Chiklis. What this pilot needed was a better script.

The characters are alright, as is the setting. The show just didn’t pull us in. We’re going to wait and see if it builds buzz after a few episodes. The pilot was solid and serviceable, but it didn’t stay with us or make us yearn for next week. There was something missing. Maybe pacing? It’s a crime drama playing dress up. That’s fine if you love procedural crime dramas. We usually only love those if it’s Southland or Bones or another show that’s more focused on its characters than its cases. Vegas might turn into something like that, because we can see it really trying to have substance and an overriding story arc where a black hat and a white hat compete for the fate of a city.

So, bottom line, wait and see. We’ll wait until the season is over, see if it gets renewed, binge season one, and then see if we’re sold. We know we'd have trouble trying to get into this if we watched it weekly. 

Episode grade: B-