TV Review: The Unusuals

If there’s one thing we can learn from shows like Monk and Psych, it’s that TV shows about crime and detective work don’t have to be entirely serious. While The Unusuals isn’t as light and borderline silly as the earlier referenced USA detective series, this new ABC show does manage to blend comedy with the darker side of police detective work in a way that’s both compelling and amusing.

The Unusuals follows Detective Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn), a cop who was working on Vice as an undercover prostitute when she’s pulled off her beat on the street to work in the NYPD’s homicide unit. What she comes to realize right away is that there are just as many secrets among her fellow detectives as there are in the cases she’s investigating. This works out well for Casey as she’s got a few secrets of her own.

Casey’s partnered with Detective Jason Walsh (Jeremy Renner) and the two are working to find out who murdered Walsh’s former partner, Kowalski and why. On the lighter side, the detectives are often handling some rather unusual cases, like chasing down a man dressed up like a hot dog who may or may not be carrying a samurai sword (only in New York, right?!). Detective partners Eric Delahoy (Adam Goldberg) and Leo Banks (Harold Perrineau) are complete opposites in that Delahoy has a death wish and Banks is convinced he’s going to die and probably showers in his bulletproof vest. These two spend a good part of the pilot chasing down/hiding from danger and investigating a man who might be a pathological cat killer. Detective Eddie Alvarez (Kai Lennox) speaks of himself in the third person and is a total media-whore. He wants the best cases and all the credit. This makes him a prime candidate for prank-victim and Walsh is only too happy to send Alvarez on wild goose chases if the opportunity arises.

Bouncing from serious to humorous, The Unusuals manages to find a nice balance between the two as we get to know the various detectives, learn some of their secrets and enjoy the unusual nature of the work they do. We’re teased with all of the personal secrets among the characters and the question of who killed Detective Kowalski lingers in the air, so there’s more than enough reason to tune in for the next episode. As if that’s not enough, Tamblyn is great as Shraeger. Her character is feisty but not hardened, which makes her interesting to watch. Plus, she’s adorable, as is Jeremy Renner as Shraeger’s partner, Walsh. There’s a nice chemistry between these two and although we don’t get to learn what Walsh’s secret is, other than that he’s not the best cook, he’s interesting and likable enough as a character to have me wondering what he could possibly be hiding.

Need a few reasons to watch The Unusuals? Great cast, amusing B-stories and an interesting premise.



The Unusuals – Pilot
Starring: Amber Tamblyn, Jeremy renner, Harold Perrineau, Josh Close, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Kai Lennox, Terry Kinney, Adam Goldberg
Created By: Noah Hawley
Premieres: Wednesday, April 8 at 10:00 pm EST on ABC