TV Review: Kidnapped

Tonight my imagination was taken hostage. It was stolen and money was asked for in exchange for its safe return. That’s right, tonight I got Kidnapped. Timothy Hutton, Dana Delany, Jeremy Sisto, Mykelti Williamson, Delroy Lindo and numerous others, it's a pretty solid cast. I definitely have a weak spot for Timothy Hutton, he’ll always be Archie Goodwin to me, and if you haven’t seen that you need to.  It’s also a pretty solid show and one that’s definitely going on this Guy’s recommended list.

Not to be confused with Vanished, Fox’s kidnapping show, Kidnapped is NBC’s entry into the genre. The plot revolves around the kidnapping Leo Cain (Will Denton), the son of Conraid and Ellie Cain (Timothy Hutton and Dana Delany, respectively). Conrad, Ellie, and family are wealthy New Yorkers, complete with personal security (at least for the child), however ineffective they may be. 

It is unclear why exactly Leo has been kidnapped, but his having a bodyguard certainly indicates that either Dad or Mom (or both) is up to no good or has been up to no good in the past. At least in this country, the average non-famous rich-person does not tend to have a bodyguard. That and Cain’s daughter querying Virgil (Mykelti Williamson), Leo’s bodyguard about the reason that he’s around and him providing an unconvincing answer. 

One of the best moments in the show, and it’s really a recurring moment, is the kidnapping scene itself.  It’s incredibly well-constructed and intricate. The pilot episode keeps coming back to the scene and showing us bits and pieces of it over and over. Presumably as the show continues we will get to see the events of the kidnapping in still more ways, ways that reveal details heretofore unseen.

Jeremy Sisto and Delroy Lindo are both tracking the bad guy here, but from different angles. Sisto plays Knapp, a private tough guy that specializes in child abduction cases, hired by Conraid Cain to find his son. Lindo is Latimer King, an FBI agent that who was set to retire until he was brought in via his family because of Virgil’s disappearance.  Knapp and King don’t quite see eye-to-eye in the pilot, but do seem willing to work together for the good of Leo. 

This may sound like an odd comment for a show about kidnapping, but this is a fun TV show. The first episode puts a lot of various pieces in play, but always with the feeling that it’s headed somewhere. I don’t know where they’re going, but I’m really very curious to see. I think getting there will be just as interesting as where it ends up.

The sad part is that we may never know. Kidnapped is airing opposite ABC’s The Nine, and CBS’s CSI:NY. CSI:NY may not get the ratings of the original version, but it always performs solidly. And while The Nine hasn’t premiered yet, it is seen as one of the best new shows of the fall season. 

It looks like my always crowded, always busy, DVR may have pull some overtime.