SUMMER TV: Crossing Lines Review

Verdict: Interesting

Crossing Lines follows an international task force in charge of catching and prosecuting criminals that cross the borders of European countries. The members of the task force are an eclectic group of specialized cops from different countries: France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, England and the U.S.

The American retired cop is played by William Fichtner and he basically is reprising his role of Mahone from Prison Break, with some touches of House thrown into the mix. Fichtner is very good at playing tortured, obsessive characters with a good heart. I was not familiar with the actors who play the Italian, French and Irish cops. But, Italian actress is gorgeous, French actress is adorable and I instantly like anyone with an Irish accent so… The German cop is played by Tom Wlaschiha and Valar Morghulis! it’s the same actor who played Jaqen H’aghar on Game of Thrones! It’s time for me to go on and on about how much I loved that character. One of the most interesting characters from the Ice and Fire series and they couldn’t have picked a better actor to play it on the show. He was SO GOOD. “A man had it going on, and a girl [me] enjoyed watching him very very much”. Finally, the ICC liaison is no other than Donald Sutherland. Fun fact, I never liked Kiefer Sutherland much… I believe he is a wonderful actor, 24 and Touch were great series; but I just never fully liked him [please don’t kill me 24 fans]. On the other hand, daddy Sutherland I absolutely love! So, as you can see… cast-wise Crossing Lines is pretty solid.

Now, how about the plot and the other aspects of the show? They were good and much better than I expected. There were a lot of things that I liked. I am not a huge fan of police procedurals, there are just SO many, but this one kept the plot going, it was intriguing, it had compelling characters, beautiful European settings and a couple of unexpected twists towards the end. It wasn’t wildly original, but it wasn’t repetitive either. It had a style and tone of something you would see on the BBC but not quite… it still had some of the look and feel of American shows. I liked the fact that instead of creating stereotypical characters (based on their nationalities) they simply presented real people with issues that weren’t linked to their country of origin. They even poked fun at some of the clichés [drunken Irishmen and cocky Americans],

In summary it was different, it was international and it had potential. It also did awful in the ratings! In the U.S. that is, because it premiered in Italy with great success. They say American audiences aren’t interested in international series, but how can they know if they are interested if they don’t promote the show? I almost missed the show, it simply got lost in the midst of summer premieres. I had to google it to see what it was about and was surprised to find out Donald Sutherland was on it and that the trailer looked pretty interesting. This show will not become my new TV obsession or anything, but It is definitely superior to the rest of the doomed-to-fail summer shows I’ve seen so far.

Should you watch it? I think it is worthy, however after the terrible numbers of the NBC premiere it probably won’t last. Now, it had lots of success in Italy and it will probably be the same in France and Germany. Since it is a joint production, I assume the show could continue in Europe even if it is cancelled in the U.S. So, if you are in Europe or you don’t mind watching soon to be cancelled shows I would give it a try.