'Amsterdam' is ambitious
But new Fox show has bitten off more than it can chew
Scott D. Pierce
The new Fox series, which premieres tonight at 8 on Ch. 13, is a procedural, police detective show. It's a romance. It's a mystery. It's a supernatural thriller.
It's a lot to ask a TV show to be good at any one of those, let alone all of them.
"Boy, it's true," said executive producer David Manson. "If we pull it off, I think it will be really terrific and very exciting. ... Finding a balance between these various elements of the show is, in fact, part of the challenge of the show."
John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is a nearly 400-year-old New York City homicide detective. Back in 1642, he was a Dutch soldier in the New Amsterdam colony who tried to keep his fellow soldier from massacring a group of American Indians. Run through by a sword and killed, he's brought back to life by a mystic spell that will prevent him from aging or dying until he finds his true love.
About 10 minutes into tonight's premiere, Amsterdam's heart suddenly stops as a bunch of women exit a subway car and walk near him. So ... we're left thinking she's "the one."
But, apparently, that's a misapprehension. Maybe. Sort of.
According to the prophecy, Amsterdam will start to age once he finds this woman and "their souls are wed or united," and neither he nor we know what that means.
"That's part of what has to be figured out along the way, in whatever relationship he starts to get involved in," Manson said. "I think it's unlikely that the clock is going to start ticking for a little while."
It's not, however, a particularly good sign when your premiere leaves viewers confused.
The concept of immortality is intriguing, however. Amsterdam has lived in New York since it was a village. He's lived lifetime after lifetime, watched his friends, lovers and children grow old and die, become an alcoholic, lost his sanity for a time, and now he's a detective with instincts honed through centuries of experience.
Amsterdam has one pal, jazz club owner Omar (Stephen Henderson), who knows his secret. And Dr. Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore) is more than a bit curious because she pronounces Amsterdam dead after his heart attack, so she's surprised when she discovers him walking around alive and well.
And Amsterdam has got a new partner at work, Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson), with whom he instantly clashes. (Now there's an original dynamic we've never seen on a cop show before!)
Recent comments
It's "Law and Order" with Edward Cullen (from the Twilight books)…
Dull City | March 5, 2008 at 12:36 p.m.
