TELEVISION REVIEW: the forgotten is a Procedural of a Different Kind!

While ABC’s the forgotten [Tuesdays, 10/9C] is definitely a procedural, it’s not a glossy police show with all kinds of cool tools and the crème de la crème of forensics talent. Instead, it’s about a group of part-time volunteers who take on John and Jane Doe cases after the talented guys with the cool toys and decent budgets have given up.

The Jerry Bruckheimer production follows the Chicago chapter of The Forgotten Network, led by ex-cop Alex Donovan [Christian Slater]: Candace Butler [Michelle Borth], who uses the group to fight the boredom of a crushing day job; Lindsey Drake [Heather Stephens], a high school teacher who volunteers as a kind of penance for a crime her husband committed; Walter Bailey [Bob Stephenson], a telephone company employee whose good intentions balance his complicated ideas, and Tyler Davies [Anthony Carrigan], a med school dropout who fancies himself an artist, and is doing 200 hours of public service. Their contact with the police department is Donovan’s former protégé, Grace Russell [Rochelle Aytes], now a detective with the Chicago Police. In a late reveal, we do finally find out what motivates Donovan to lead this group of dedicated amateurs… and it adds a very specific gravity to the series.

The series premiere centers on a “Highway Jane” – a Goth girl who was murdered and left by the side of a lonely road where the only building nearby is a convenience store. One thing a good crime series needs is a team of writers who can develop a mystery without making it too obvious who the murderer is – and the forgotten looks to be numbered among those shows. Between two ex-boyfriends, a couple of the victim’s friends and sundry other characters encountered over the hour, it’s not easy to figure out who did what, and why.

In a curious and intriguing choice, series creator Mark Friedman punctuates the investigation with snippets of narration by the victim – giving the premiere a kind of Lovely Bones overtone that layers in nicely with the textures provided by the widely divergent cast of characters who form the Chicago chapter of The Forgotten Network. Apparently, this will be the show’s signature technique – and if the pilot is any indication, it will be a wise move.

Danny Cannon [CSI: Crime Scene Investigation] directs the pilot with a deft touch, mixing high drama, the very occasional bit of humor and moments of action/violence in such a way that even a punch is part of a character’s development.

Overall, though, the pilot for the forgotten [deliberately lower case], while being thoughtful and inventive, is perhaps a bit too deliberate in its pacing. On the other hand, maybe audiences will appreciate a procedural series where character is as important as methodology. One thing is for certain: the cast is certainly one that can bring to light every nuance the show’s writers can throw at them. It just night be that Slater has found a series that will last.

Final Grade: B+