Jodi Larsen’s last day in the Army is traumatic, but not too traumatic, because this is a Faith & Family show. She returned to Crystal Ridge to reconnect with nature (those “blue skies”) and her widowed father. As a Park Detective, Larsen investigates the crimes that come with record park attendance, but she prefers to work alone. She might have to make an exception.
One morning, Blue breaks into her cabin and helps himself to her food. He then invites himself along when she leaves for work. He is a big, overly friendly distraction, whom her new boss, Liza King, does not fully appreciate. However, Larsen has a hunch that Blue’s odd behavior could hold Lassie-like implications for the missing boy the Crystal Ridge station has mobilized to find.
The first episode, “The Trail of the Missing” probably devotes as much time to introducing Blue as it allots for the search, but Blue can carry his co-stars just fine. The second episode, “Fugitive in the Wild” (of the two provided to the press for review) really gives viewers our first taste of Blue and Larsen working a full case. She is not an idiot, so at this point, she is already convinced Blue was meant to track people in the Park. Yet, King and Larsen’s obnoxious colleague Alex Meeks remain obstinately slow to embrace his talents and charm.
Of course, Larsen could not work the case of Federal fugitive Daniel Cross without him, even if she tried. Somehow, Cross escaped from U.S. Marshal Erin Vaughn while the transport cut through the Park. Larsen can empathize with Vaughn since they have similar backgrounds and she is also sort of in her boss’s doghouse, thanks to Blue’s chaos.
Frankly, the first two episodes, particularly the second, show a lot of promise. Jessica Sipos and Kevin Mundy are memorable guest stars, as Vaughn and Cross, while the series regulars do some nice procedural work.
Scarlet Hunter is also an incredibly good sport playing Larsen, because her co-star steals all the scenes they share. Referred to simply as Blue in promo videos, the canine performer has major screen presence. Blue is a charmer, but director David Straiton and writers Zach Grossman, Victoria Rose, Fernando Viso never portray him as excessively precious or ridiculously silly. He is a handful, but if you’ve ever had a willful dog, you can easily believe every bit of mischief—only too well.
Yet, Blue will always be the star. Given that fact, it makes sense that the creative team maintains a light tone and largely minimizes the on-screen violence. This is definitely a family-friendly series, with no sexual references. However, there is mild flirtation between Larsen and Ryan Miller, her high school flame, who also returned home to work for Search & Rescue. So far, their chemistry is only a few degrees warmer than friendship, which is not problem. There is also a welcome absence of political and ideological content. Without question, Blue Skies is 100% dog-driven.
That is why even jaded hipsters will be charmed by Blue. Seriously, just look at him. He’s Lassie chewing on a badge. This is definitely a clean, lowkey throwback to a less edgy era of television, but it succeeds on those terms. Recommended for fans of Inspector Rex and the late-1980’s Rin Tin Tin reboot, Blue Skies premieres tomorrow (2/19) on Up Faith & Family.