Winter TV Roundup, Week 11

In these weekly posts I look at the new shows this winter, offering reviews of the pilot and second episode. If you don't see a new show listed below, check previous weeks.

Monday Nights:
The Returned, Mondays at 10 p.m. on A&E (Premiered March 9)
About: This show, based on the French series of the same name, explores a small town where people who died years earlier return, inexplicably and without injury or memory. They're also frozen in time at exactly the same age as when they left. The problem is, while the returned haven't changed, the world around them has. The first episode focused on Camille (India Ennenga), who perished four years earlier in a bus accident. She returns to see her family has fractured. Her parents aren't together and her identical twin sister, Lena (Sophie Lowe), no longer looks familiar. In the second episode Simon (Mat Vairo) returns after dying on the day of his wedding, six years earlier. He finds that his fiancé, Rowan (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), has moved on is about to be married again. His world is changed. These are interesting ideas, and something being carefully explored by show runner Carlton Cuse, who adapted "The Returned" for American television. But this is a story that feels familiar. ABC used the same plot idea with "Resurrection" last Spring. It's a show that started like gangbusters and has slowly fizzled to the brink of cancellation. There are the bones of something interesting here, but for how long? "The Returned" has so far given no information about why people are back, rather focusing on re-integration issues. This show poses an interesting, possibly painful what if? But it feels like a question that needs to be answered sooner, rather than later, and poses another question, where would we go from here?
Pilot Grade: C-
Second Episode: C

Tuesday Nights:
Billy & Billie, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on DirecTV (Premiered March 3)
About: This is the latest from Neil LaBute, and it centers on Billy (Adam Brody) and Billie (Lisa Joyce), two young people trying to see if they can make it in a relationship. The further complication is the fact they're step siblings. That adds a layer of family dynamics on top of everything else. The first two episodes of the series were charming in their own way and had a unique style. Brody and Joyce are good in the lead roles, which is what helps make this work. The show is a lot of talking — somewhat similar in style to a stage play — but it has it's own unique beats and unique sense of humor. This feels very much like a kind of indie comedy you might find on another pay cable outlet. I don't know where it's going, but through two episodes I'm intrigued.
Pilot Grade: B-
Second Episode: B-

Wednesday Nights:
CSI: Cyber, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on CBS (Premiered March 4)
About: This is the latest series to roll off the CBS procedural assembly line, and though it's called "CSI" in the title, it feels different from the three other series that bared that name. This feels more like a hybrid of a few different shows. It's set in an FBI Cyber Crime unit, the cases take them around the country, rather than just in one city, and the science and lab experiments are replaced by computer screens and the dark web. Of course, being that this is CBS, the show takes its time to explain anything technical, making it feel like a show set in a hip modern world that's written by your grandmother. Patricia Arquette and James Van Der Beek do a nice job heading the cast, and the second episode felt like a bit of a step up over the pilot. The show's introduction set the tone, the case seemed a little more interesting, and there was more character build up. But at the end of the day, this is very much a procedural like others that flood CBS' air each week. If you're a fan of these kind of crime shows, you'll be in your element.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C

Thursday Nights:
Dig, Thursdays at 10 p.m. on USA (Premiered March 5)
About: This is the latest series from Tim Kring ("Heroes") and Gideon Raff ("Homeland"), and it's meant to be a global mystery series. There's religious factions — though they seem to hew to varied theology — and crimes to be solved. But through two episodes, it's not clear how all the pieces fit. A devout Jew is raising a red cow in Norway — now on the move to Croatia. A radical Christian minister in New Mexico is raising a creepy clone child — and giving him a Bar Mitzvah — as part of a prophesy. And in Jerusalem an FBI agent assigned there is working with a local cop to solve the murder of a young American woman who was working on an archeological dig. These pieces will be connected by something — most likely this prophesy that has been referenced but never expounded upon — and it's a matter of putting the pieces together. That can be fun, but you have to have something to latch on to in order to care enough to put the pieces together. So far, that's the weak spot for "Dig." It's an ambitious project, but at this point it feels impossible to tell where it's going.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C-

American Crime, Thursdays at 10 p.m. on ABC (Premiered March 5)
About: This show comes from writer/director John Ridley ("12 Years A Slave"), and follows the story of a young couple attacked in Modesto, the perpetrators, and their families. While it's called "American Crime," this series really aims to look at the complexity of race in America. No one comes away clean here. There is a lot of hurt and anger bubbling under the surface, and the show has a lot to say about race relations, class in America, and the grieving process. It's on a slow burn, and it's sometimes brutal to watch. That's because the show doesn't pull any punches. It's trying to make a realistic, honest portrayal of the critical issues still plaguing American in 2015. That's not something we often want to face, but it's something that "American Crime" doesn't shy away from. In the fall "How To Get Away With Murder" burned up the ratings and the blogs with its flashy presentation. "American Crime," which inherited the same time slot, it's flashy, but it's very meaty. That, to me, makes it a far superior show. Ridley is doing a great job of guiding his vision, and I can't wait to see where this show ends up.
Pilot Grade: B-
Second Episode: B

Sunday Nights:
The Royals, Sundays at 10 p.m. on E (Premiered March 15)
About: This is the first foray into scripted fare for E, and it's a show about the Royal family in England. In the premier, the eldest son — heir to the throne — is killed. It throws the family into turmoil. The King (Vincent Regan) mourns the loss of his son and wrestles with the idea that the monarchy should be no more. The Queen (Elizabeth Hurley) seems a little too focused on keeping the family's image intact. Liam (William Moseley), the new heir to the throne, is in the midst of a burgeoning relationship with Ophelia (Merritt Patterson), the American-raised daughter of the head of the place guard, while his sister, Eleanor (Alexandra Park), continues to act out. I was surprised by the flow, tone, and story in the pilot episode. "The Royals" has a good hook, and spends a bulk of the pilot building up its characters. There are a lot of interesting stories introduced, and plenty of intrigue. For a first foray into scripted fare, E hits a lot of it right. It also has the kind of family drama and intrigue that feel on brand with its reality show fare. I could see "The Royals" developing into a fascinating family drama, building on what was a solid pilot with interestingly flawed characters.
Pilot Grade: B-