The new NBC pilot Life aspires to be the House of police procedurals.  It may not seem like it at first, because on the surface Life is a high-concept offering, but by the end of the first episode it becomes clear that the premise is only there to make the lead character quirky.  Which is weird, given the plot: An ex-cop spends 12 years of a life sentence for murder in a maximum security prison before being exonerated.  He then goes back to being a detective.  The improbability level of the pilot is high and, although this isn't always a deal-breaker, it is troubling given the fact that Life is essentially a police procedural. 

English thespian Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers) plays Detective Charlie Crews, who endured his torturous 12 years of prison life by becoming a Zen master.  You see, being an ex-cop in prison is not conducive to your health.  We learn early on in the pilot that Charlie spent most of his first few years in the joint nursing injuries at the infirmary, injuries inflicted by cop-hating inmates.  He got the crap beaten out of him.  In documentary style talking heads from co-workers and friends, we learn that prior to his sentence, Charlie was a typical cop, a guy just looking to get his 20 years and pension.  After his exoneration, Charlie is a rich man thanks to a multi-million dollar settlement, but he is also a changed man.  Not hardened, but Eastern-thinking and, yes, quirky.   

Charlie starts his first day back investigating the murder of a cub scout.  His new partner is Detective Dani Reece (played by the uglied up but still hot Sarah Shahi, from The L Word) who is a recovering drug abuser.  She's been assigned to Crews as a punishment.  Reece is an interesting enough character, a by the book cop who doesn't like talking but does enjoy occasional anonymous sex.  The new partners have wildly different approaches to their work: Crews is an oddball, Reece isn't. 

The pilot attempts to set the ground rules for what Life will be like in future episodes, but it's all a bit confounding.  The premise dictates that Crews is going to be a good detective now because of what he learned in prison (or, at least that's what NBC's promos would like us to believe).  The truth is, though, that he didn't appear to learn all that much while locked up.  Mostly, he came across a Zen life philosophy that permeates through all his actions.  The writers would like us to believe this Zen thinking makes Crews a better detective.  Mostly, though, he's just weird and his tactics are only effective because the writers say they are. 

The pilot for Life is shot exceptionally well and the cast is filled with good peripheral actors, like Adam Arkin (Chicago Hope) as Crews' live-in financial manager, Brooke Langton (Melrose Place) as Crews' lawyer, and Robin Weigert (Deadwood) as the police lieutenant.  Unfortunately, Life muddily sets up the show's premise and is likely to leave viewers confused as to why Crews is a good detective, why he acts as he does, and why he was hired back in the first place.  The ongoing sub-plot of Crews' attempt to solve the case that landed him in jail is enticing, but is touched upon only briefly in the pilot's final moments.  Ultimately, Life does have some promise, but it's going to have to figure itself out first.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer 
(Image Courtesy of NBC)