I recently watched the first two episodes of Thandie Newton's
action-adventure series
Rogue on DirecTV's Audience Network.
It is gritty,
fast-paced entertainment that feels oddly British (I kept
expecting to see
the iconic "Egg" Building in the background) even
though the story is
supposed to be taking place in Oakland,
California.
It is probably not
surprising that the show appears wrapped in the
Union Jack when the chief
writer, Matthew Parkhill, and most of
the prime participants are either
British, Australian, New Zealand
or Canadian actors and the show is filmed in the city of
Vancouver
in the Province of British Columbia. I don't understand why
the
show wasn't based in London - except for the desire to sell the
concept
to an American network and audience. Suffice it to say
you never believe you are in
Oakland, California, despite the signs
on various buildings designating
this
as an Oakland Police Station
or
that as an Oakland
courthouse.
Something decidedly "British" pervades the whole enterprise.
British and Australian actors are apparently the new vogue in all
realms of
entertainment. They play
True Blood vampires and
upright police officers and
rogueish Governors dealing with
the
Walking Dead, but in all of those
instances if you didn't know,
you wouldn't know. In this particular instance,
you are constantly
aware of something being not quite kosher with these
allegedly
"American" characters.
Ian Hart, who plays an artful dodger cop, is such a archtypical
British character with his cockney attitude and
porkpie hat that
his character could have been played by Bob Hoskins. The most
believable of these "American" characters is Kavan Smith, as
Thandie's
husband, and he was born in Edmonton, Alberta.
All of which is to say
what? "Rogue" feels ersatz? Yes. Do I
ever feel like I am in America, let
alone in Oakland, California?
No, not ever. Even the stakes, the Chinese
mafia trying to bully
in on the action on the docks, seems British. Even
Newton's
mixed race kids are too British in looks and demeanor to be
believable as Oakland born and bred. It is annoying. Why are
they trying
to sell me that this story is taking place
in America, let alone in
Oakland, California?
But, if you can swallow all the textural tea and
crumpets,
Rogue is gripping and compelling. Newton is whippet lean
and junk
yard tough as Grace, the conflicted cop working
undercover to expose the
smooth but lethal boss of the docks
(New Zealand born Morton Csokas). The
sexual attraction
between these two is palpable but Grace is the wife of Tom
Travis and the mother of feisty teen-ager, Evie Travis (Sarah
Jeffrey).
Grace's dual life takes a terrible toll on her family: her young-
est
son wets the bed, has nightmares and draws horrific pictures
of sharp-toothed
predators chasing him. A good cop, she is a
horrible wife and mother - constantly making promises she can't
keep. Grace wants to quit her increasingly dangerous life and
devote more time to her family,
but she keeps getting sucked
back in - with ever escalating
consequences.
I'm all in for the ten-episode run.
~rave!