BOOMTOWN
Donnie Wahlberg, Mykelti Williamson, Neal McDonough, Gary Basaraba,
Nina Garbiras, Lana Parrilla, Jason Gedrick
Dreamworks/NBC Television
Boomtown is a crime drama with a difference. The central story - the crime of the week - is seen from a number of different perspectives: the Beat Cop; the Detectives; the Paramedic; the District Attorney; the Reporter; and even the criminals themselves.
Boomtown's unconventional format lifts it above the average police procedural. But rather than turning it into a gimmick-driven show, the disjointed format allows the characters room to breathe. While each character can be reduced to a single, overriding personality trait ("Duty," "Coping," "Self-Destruct"), Boomtown takes the time to flesh the characters out. Rather than devoting whole episodes to single characters, exploring their psyches in one quick burst, never to be spoken of again, Boomtown has treated each character like a jigsaw puzzle, revealing a corner here, a new wrinkle there. It's what keeps me coming back for more.
The characters interact in interesting ways. As often as not, they downright hate each other. Other times, they're on the verge of falling in love. It's like the Anti-Enterprise. The acting is first rate. Mykelti Williamson shines as "Fearless." A man living on borrowed time, Fearless lives up to his name: in one of the best action sequences I've seen on television for years, Williamson dances across the rooftops, guns blazing, as a pack of drug dealers pepper the sky with lead. Never missing a step, Fearless dances between the bullets as if he was
gamboling through a forest. All police fiction should be this good.
And if that wasn't enough to convince you to watch Boomtown: Donnie Wahlberg is so good in the role of steadfast detective Joel that
all New Kids On The Block crimes are forgiven.
High praise, indeed.
Review text (C) Matthew Craig
Originally published in the pop culture magazine Robot Fist