Focused on a tough and charming commander, this fiction of the CBS channel wants to get out of the mold “NCIS”, “FBI”, “Rookie” being more realistic and complex. Even if it means being less spectacular.
“East New York,” launched by CBS this Sunday at 9pm, aims to break out of the traditional format of crime series and ring true. This is what we felt after its first episode and what its creators Mike Flynn and William M. Finkelstein have openly sought. The latter in particular took care of the fates of “New York Special Unit” and “NYPD Blue” (“New York Police Blues”), which he executive produced. “East New York” is necessarily close and we will be back.
As the title suggests, his action takes place in the east of New York, precisely on the border with Brooklyn, a working-class neighborhood still heavily mined and the scene of numerous riots. In the 74th Precinct Police Station, Regina Haywood (Amanda Warren, seen in “The Leftovers), a black woman who combines class and coolness essential to work, has just been promoted to commander. And she is directly immersed in the bathtub when a shooting, after the robbery of a car, erupts in the middle of the road in front of her eyes … New proof, not particularly necessary, of the hardness of this area of the Big Apple, which however, it takes care to protect and clean with the firmness and determination that characterize it.
As we suspect, that a black woman, no matter how competent and tough she is, is in this position not to everyone on her team, some elements of which are not the clearest … They are skeptical and wary of she, like the neighborhood bad seeds do with the police.
“It will always be seen as the diversity that must be included, right? asks his boss, chef John Suarez, played by a certain Jimmy Smits, the only really known boss of this novelty. Additionally, this Brooklyn native, of Puerto Rican descent, is the living symbol of his proximity to “NYPD Blue,” where he played Inspector Bobby Simone from 1994-1998, a role that earned him five Emmy Award nominations for best actor.
Assisting Regina are her right hand, Captain Stan Yenko (Richard Kind), officer Marvin Sandeford (black Ruben Santiago-Hudson, once seen in “Castle”), Puerto Rican detective Crystal Morales (Elizabeth Rodriguez) , Detective Tommy Killian (Kevin Rankin), who commits a crime himself in order to open a restaurant with the woman he loves, and young newcomer Brandy Quinlan (Olivia Luccardi), a resourceful and zealous girl who agrees to go to living in a “hot” building in the hope of forging ties with a community to be watched over and, just in case, directly capturing all those who break the law.
This whole little world revolves around the heroine is a set of individual stories that the series will develop. From this point of view, it does not differ much from those circulating on the main American networks. But it is true that it has more accents of truth, even if Regina is – for our taste – a little too glamorous to be 100% believable. This doesn’t stop us from feeling how complicated her daily task is and that she doesn’t always have the means, human and otherwise, to catch the rotten apples in this part of the Big Apple.
On the other hand, this novelty presents a plot, a way of filming and nuances reminiscent of those of “NYPD Blue” and does not have “NCIS”, “New York Special Unit”, “FBI” and other “Rookie”. And then, because he has the decor he has, he allows himself to push a little further reflection on racial issues. So, in the second episode, and for the anecdote, a young black cop asks one of his more experienced colleagues why he’s arresting a black man … I’m not sure we would have been entitled if George Floyd’s tragedy wasn’t. happened. But don’t mistakes lead to progress?
Like “NYPD Blue,” finally, “East New York” has the potential to humanize the police. The idea is to show that these cops and detectives pursue a noble cause and sometimes act as heroes, but are not immune to bad choices, hesitations and excesses. But if the result is more humane, it can also seem far less spectacular than the big series mentioned above. Here, if you seek action for forty minutes, you risk being disappointed. But on the other hand, “East New York” will perhaps help you better understand the cop’s fine job, and the thorns and sacrifices that come with it.
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