The Unusuals Usually Fun

Why do I do this to myself?  Am I a glutton for punishment?  Is there any possible other reason for me watching a television week after week which I know, I just know won’t do good numbers and which doesn’t have a great shot at coming back next season (but it does have a shot).  I sat there last night watching The Unusuals – as I’ve sat there every week since the show premiered, and every week I like the show more and more.

The show is funny, it's quirky, it has interesting characters and decent storylines – why wouldn't I watch?  Why wouldn't you watch?  Why aren't you watching?

The show airs out of Lost, which has been death for anything ABC has thrown into that slot, even if the shows are seemingly compatible with the trippy mysterious island program.  But, I do think that ABC probably thought they had something with The Unusuals, after all it has a bunch of people you've seen before – Amber Tamblyn (I think of her as the original Emily from GH, but you probably know her as Joan of Arcadia), Adam Goldberg who has been in more shows than I can possibly name, and Harold Perrineau (Michael from Lost) among others.  So, this guy from Lost plus a bunch of other people you've seen around are in a show after Lost, I'd stick around for such a thing.  Yes, even if it means having to TiVo Jack McCoy or try to pull some funky viewing trick whereby I get to watch both shows at the same time.

In any case, I'm watching the show, and as I said above, every week I've found myself getting more and more into it.  Is Leo going to die this year (he firmly believes he will)? Will Eric opt to fight his tumor (it looks like he may)?  Is Casey going to stick with the cop thing (I tend to believe so)?  What about Walsh and Allison, is that going to work (jury's still out there)? 

I want to know more about these characters, I want to see where they're headed and what they're doing.  In short, I'm intrigued.

However, I also find myself enjoying the weekly cases.  Last night Casey and Walsh had to try and prove that a cop didn't kill someone.  They backtracked his night, did the whole thing step-by-step, and (and here's where the show really scores points with me) I didn't immediately recognize it when they met the killer.  No, they had a conversation with the actual killer and they left the scene unaware of whom they were just speaking to, and I didn't pick up on it either.

It's not that the storyline didn't work or that they were trying to trick us into not figuring it all out, the storyline unfolded very naturally.  The writers even gave the audience a reason for depicting the first conversation with the killer, he annoyed Casey in the exact way other cops had earlier in the episode, so the audience was just led to believe that he was there to perpetuate her anger.  The introduction of the killer and the scene with him taking as long as it did was cleverly folded into the story.

Come on now, give the show a chance, I'd love the thing to come back next season and it needs some firmer footing to guarantee that.