Terriers 101 Pilot Review

Terriers is a comedic drama about a couple of private detectives. Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James star as Hank and Britt. Hank used to be a cop, but an extensive bout of drinking got him kicked off the force, and his wife to leave him. She is still a friend of his, however, and is selling their old house. Not much was revealed about Britt in episode one, but we did meet his girlfriend, played by Laura Allen.

The pilot begins with Hank and Britt on a "case" that Hank is skeptical about. I think it's fair to guess that Britt is going to be the "shenanigans" partner. Hank meets up with an old drinking buddy of his, who is concerned for his daughter, who he thinks might be in danger. The guys go looking for her and begin to realize that they may be out of their depth. Frankly, a lot of these private detective plot points may sound familiar, but I don't know that I've ever actually seen a good private eye show, and this one shows the definite sparks of something special. It's not there yet, but I smell copper in the room.

Some small moments show brilliance in the writing. Call me a geek, but the method which Hank used to enter a gated home's yard made me both laugh out loud and yell, "Damn, that's good!" at the tv screen. That may be an oversell of a rather small moment, but it showed some ingenuity that this genre could desperately use. Another moment after a particularly devastating conversation for Hank included an almost instant cut to him leaning on a liquor store counter, staring at the bottles. I cringed and squirmed, desperate for this character I'd just met to leave without buying anything.

The show's pace is slow, taking its time with the characters and the events unfolding around them. They don't really seek out cases, the business seems to fall in their laps rather naturally, and in such a way that won't leave you saying, "wait a minute, how does a town that size have that much crime/business for a couple of nobody detectives?". Their "office" is a beat up old pickup truck. The show is just funny enough to not leave you desperate and hanging in their gritty little world, but not funny enough to be a buddy cop show. They're buddies, and they're detectives, but any humor that comes out of this show is completely character and situation-driven. And that's refreshing.

If you're not a fan of a show that can take its time, you probably won't like this one. The best comparison of this show is to Men of a Certain Age, only with detectives and mysteries. It's a strange comparison, but the pace, mood, and humor of the shows are similar. Take a look, see what you think.

I swear folks, I'm gonna get a graphic that shows a rating. For now, I'm just giving this a loud 3 out of 4 stars, and hoping it grows into its promise.