First Impresssions: The Catch

A new show comes to The Shonda-network... err I mean ABC

Premise: A private investigator (Mireille Enos), who exposes con artists for a living, discovers that she has been conned by her own boyfriend (Peter Krause).

Verdict: Another Shonda show. That’s not a bad thing.

The Catch is the latest Shonda and in classic Shondaland-fashion it is about a powerful woman with an interesting business and an army of fast-talking sidekicks. The show almost feels like a spin-off of Scandal (Scandal: Private Eye) and producers are not even trying to hide it. They are after the same audience, after all. However, The Catch has a much lighter tone than Scandal, reminiscent of the old USA shows like White Collar and Burn Notice. [It also has echoes of movies like The Thomas Crown Affair]. This is probably a good thing. If you think about it… even USA has turned dark these days, so there was a TV void for blue-sky entertainment that needed to be filled and The Catch fits the bill.

The other interesting fact about The Catch is all the recasting and reshooting that went on. Two of the leading roles were recast and the pilot was shot three times. I am always interested in this type of gossip and often wonder if the recasting was really necessary. Damon Dayoub was originally tapped as the leading man but was replaced with Peter Krause. Now, I am not familiar with Damon Dayoub’s work [he does seem appropriately hunky for an ABC show], but I have no doubt Peter Krause is a good choice. He has proven several times that he can carry a show and he was utterly convincing as a con man with a crisis of conscience. His performance was very nuanced and I can see how it could have gone terribly wrong in the hands of a less experienced actor. Having said that... there was also something interesting in having a younger actor play that role... well, guess we will never know. You can watch the original trailer here... and it looks like an entirely different show.  

Getting Sonya Walger on board was also a good choice. She brings a more mature energy to the character, but have to say, the way Bethany Joy Lenz reacted after she was replaced was very classy.

Should you watch it? Yes, I think it is a fun show.