Lou Hickman needs better forensic support. Instead, Chief Big Hank hires a second detective, her brother Henry, whose blunt honesty and weird pedantry consistently sabotaged his career with the Seattle police. Big Hank hopes to repair his relationship with little Henry, but it will take time and effort. At least the odd couple siblings resent their absent mother more than their camera-chasing father.
They also have a high-profile case to solve during the pilot, “Peace in the Valley.” In an ironic twist of fate, an armed robber shot another masked bandit who was already holding up the drug store he intended to rob. Somehow, the Hickman detectives hold onto the case long enough to clear it, instead of turning it over to the better funded sheriff’s department. Det. Lou would resent them, but she enjoys flirting with Deputy Shane Carson too much.
The next episode, “The King’s Assassin” (written by Quiantance), earns points for topicality when one of three crypto bros ends up dead during their legally supervised mushroom bender. This case takes a clever twist, while introducing the ex-girlfriend Li’l Henry left behind.
The Hickman detectives are reminded why he hated high school and she loved it when they investigate death threats sent to the star varsity quarterback in “Mr. Popular,” written by Steve Joe. It also sets up the mystery based on the newly unearthed human bones of a victim murdered many years prior, which critics cannot spoil even if they wanted to, because it does not advance very far in the six episodes provided for review. However, it might be the closest to Twin Peaks that Good Cop/Bad Cops gets thus far, even though the woodsy Washington State setting immediately brings the David Lynch classic to mind.
“Found Footage” (written by Julia de Fina) might sound like it should appeal to horror fans, when the star of a would-be YouTube horror movie disappears during the shoot, but director Corrie Chen never really goes for scares. However, the episodes gives journalistic ethics (or the lack thereof) a reasonably good skewering.
Episode six has the potential to get very dark, figuratively and literally, when a Bonnie-and-Clyde-like criminal couple successfully blow-up both the local power sub-station and cell-tower, but there will be no mass destruction in Eden Vale, at least not until the season finale (not yet available for review). However, it fully embraces its Washington Stateness when the Hickmans also investigate the theft of a specially developed apple tree.
On the other hand, there is a good deal of quality work amongst the recurring support cast. As Deputy Carson, Devon Terrell quickly develops strong will-they-or-won’t-they chemistry with Meester. Blazey Best agilely walks the line between flamboyant and over-the-top as Nadia Drazdova, Big Hank’s second wife, a CSI-bingeing former Russian ballerina. Scott Lee is also earnestly meatheaded as Officer Joe Bradley, a former high school football star with little common sense. You kind of feel for the guy.
Good Cop/Bad Cop is about as cozy as procedurals get, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Quiantance and his fellow writers embrace the show’s smalltown setting and family values. It is not easy being a cop or a Hickman, but Lou, Hank, and Henry do the best that they can. It is low-stress in a generally genial way. Recommended for fans of throwback network family detective shows, like The Snoop Sisters and McMillan & Wife, Good Cop/Bad Cop premieres this coming Wednesday (2/19) on CW.
