There are far too many cop / legal shows on the air right now. That should be apparent to anyone casually glancing at the network prime time listings. That's why I was extremely pessimistic about FOX's The Chicago Code, and wasn't looking forward to reviewing it at all. This, despite the fact that the show sponsored me on Examiner last week, so I owe them one, which has no bearing on my opinion of the show, but still... I figured I would reluctantly sit through it, and then I could dash out a couple of quick paragraphs about what drivel it is, copying everything else already on the air.
That opinion was dead wrong. The Chicago Code is not at all the basic procedural drama. It's a mystery about corruption in a city known for it. It's an heroic tale about those who are finally willing to stand up to that corruption. Classic David versus Goliath, in modern-day law enforcement and politics. It seems equal parts reality-based and dark, crime-fighting, comic-book inspired. Most of the first episode dealt with those major themes, and I am very much hooked.
Alderman Gibbons (Delroy Lindo, a familiar face) has run the city for decades, relying heavily on the Irish mob, whom he seems to control, despite not being of that nationality himself. Six months after being named police superintendent, Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals, The L Word) is transferring ineffective cops to dead end beats, and is ready to tackle the source of the city's problems. Gibbons denies her request for a task force, but she doesn't let that stop her. Instead, Colvin approaches her former partner, Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke, Brotherhood), and asks him to do some investigating. Joined by his newest partner, Caleb (Matt Lauria, Friday Night Lights) and undercover detective, Liam, (Billy Lush, formerly of the canceled-too-soon The Black Donnellys), Jarek promises to do what he can.
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