Sheryl Reviews "Murder In The First"

Sheryl Reviews “Murder In the First”

I don’t usually do reviews, but this new show on TNT has been on my mind since I saw the first episode.  I haven’t watched it since.

I was initially intrigued by the two stars of the show: Kathleen Robertson who did a strong and marvelous job in the STARZ political drama “Boss” with Kelsey Grammar, and Taye Diggs, a wonderful and beautiful to look at actor who has honed his skills to perfection.  (I have to admit that Taye Diggs was the main attraction…. I mean what self respecting woman would not want to watch Taye Diggs in anything? ) But let’s not get lost in those brown eyes and that megawatt smile.

The premise of the show is that someone has murdered a dude named Cody (Lame plot reminds me of “you killed Kenny” from South Park, but did I mention Taye Diggs?) and over the course of 10 episodes that crime will be the only one investigated to its conclusion by San Francisco based lead detectives Taye and Kathleen.  I will not go into detail about how the Taye Diggs’ character becomes a widower in the first episode except to say that it was dripping with unrelenting suffering on the part of his dying wife, played by Anne-Marie Johnson, and capped off with his ridiculously quick closure about it all.

In the show, the city of San Francisco is glaringly bright and clean with soft welcoming ambiance and pristine model-like people in every nook and cranny.  It is when the investigation takes Taye and Kathleen on a “field trip to Oakland” as the chief of detectives describes it, that things go seriously wrong.

Their sojourn to the other side of the bay begins with them talking amicably in the car as they cross the beautiful bay bridge.  Halfway across, the bridge suddenly changes into a rusty, rickety, decrepit structure as they arrive in Oakland.  (I did not recognize this bridge and have never seen it around here so I figure it must have been spliced in from “Once Upon A Time”)  Their backs stiffen as they drive to their destination and all conversation stops to allow for wide-eyed looks at the sinister and foreboding terrain. It is here that the camera lens seems to be covered by a gray stocking as everything, even the sky, has the appearance of being dipped in dirty water. 

They arrive at the neighborhood where they are going to interview the victim’s parents. The houses are all old, surrounded by broken fences, and in need of paint.  None of them have grass or flowers.  There are no pets or children.  A snarling, menacing Latino-looking male in a tee shirt with ill intent or suspicion in his eyes inhabits every corner they pass.  Finally they reach the house they are looking for and each touches their weapon for comfort as they alight from the car and approach the front steps.

The house is so raggedy that I fully expect the “before he got rich” Steve Martin from “The Jerk” to answer the door when they ring the bell.  It turns out I am not that far off.  The white woman who opens the door to let them in is a sweaty, greasy mess, dressed in a dirty housedress.  The only thing authentic about this scene is the wonderful built-ins and woodwork that form the backdrop.  Soon her husband appears and he is also among the unwashed and is wearing a grayish wife beater that was white only before it was purchased.  Both of them have hair that is matted and stuck to their skulls like glue.  They are not really able to help much with the investigation because guess what…they haven’t seen the victim in years and of course they are just, well…. (spoiler alert)  not even his parents but really his grandparents and not quite bright on top of all of that.

As I am watching this, I am getting more and more angry.  How are we STILL depicting people with these stereotypes and why is Oakland the center of this freakishly inaccurate portrayal?

The journey from light to grey when the characters go from San Francisco to Oakland is an ignorant and biased director’s use of the “heaven to hell” metaphor.  It just does not apply.  The visual enhancement of a lie to define an entire city is the real murder here.  I mean, have the people who put this crappy show together ever been to Oakland?  I suspect not.  These irresponsible, racist and damaging depictions only serve to plant false beliefs about people and places that deserve better. 

Taye Diggs notwithstanding, the good people of Oakland certainly deserve better than this.  We all do.