Review of City Homicide

Unlike other reviewers, I enjoyed this series to binge watch but felt it had many flaws. The plots were well-written and interesting, some of the acting was great, some dreadful, but the production values were very poor and the decision to shoot it in a "reality" show camera style left a lot to be desired although was a popular, innovative choice for that period. The signature use of a quick-cut montage of close-ups of pointless objects when cutting to a new location or story point deterred from the action rather than adding any drama or suspense to it. It was really ridiculous. Acting wise, Nadine Garner relies on three rather "weird" facial stares in lieu of actual acting which quickly becomes tedious. Noni Hazelhurt also relies on a repetitive combination of facial and verbal stammering techniques but combines them with just enough acting to render them less irritating. Aaron Pedersen is so wooden, he just seems to be reading his lines as fast as he can off the page.... absolutely no acting involved at all. Daniel McPherson, Damien Richardson, Shane Bourne and Terry Jarvis form the core that make the show really worth watching. The violence became Increasingly more graphic over the course of the two seasons I watched on Prime which was disappointing because I felt they had been successfully conveying the crimes without the need for that. But it was still kept to a minimum compared to other cop dramas although, perhaps quite graphic for the time period. Overall, it's an enjoyable show with intriguing plots, mostly likable characters and interesting guest stars and an air of realism. They catch the criminals with good "old-fashioned" police work and the show isn't bogged down by implausible stunts and car chases. The characters' backstories showed signs of developing at first but that seemed to come to an abrupt halt and only a rare reference to "Emma" with nods and smiles in "Matt's" direction reminded us that these detectives might actually have lives outside of the office. The show isn't really "dated" given as early as it was produced, but certainly suffers from aspects of it. It reminds me of "Boone"... definitely enjoyable but just falling short of the mark somehow.