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The promising new drama also stars Jake Johnson, Michael Ealy and a filthy Portland, Oregon.
A disgruntled veteran with a pronounced taste for whiskey, money games, unnecessary risk-taking and one-night fires is a well-known archetype, but it is highly likely that the person you are imagine matching that description was a grizzled man. In "Stumptown" The new ABC drama based on Greg Rucka's graphic novel, this character comes to us rather in the form of a fierce Cobie Smulders, and it is more advantageous for him.
Broken and belied of his persistent post-traumatic stress disorder, Dex (Smulders) is trying not to go around the sewer while supporting his brother (Cole Sibius), who is suffering from Down syndrome. Then she is recruited by her neighborhood casino owner (Tantoo Cardinal) to find her kidnapped granddaughter – who is also the daughter of Dex's ex-boyfriend, who died in his arms in Afghanistan. It's a tangled web, and a Dex has no patience, even though it's hard to resist (to the chagrin of her worried best friend, played by an underused criminal, Jake Johnson). She was quick to clash with local police who do not approve of her off-book methods, but at least one of them (Michael Ealy) is impressed by her skills. Flirting, violence, infinitesimal growth follows. With only one episode to play, it's hard to say how "Stumptown" will handle its next case of the week or if it will hide Dex beyond its clichés. But there are some outstanding elements of the show that foreshadow a more promising season than ever before.
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On the one hand, "Stumptown" immediately has a different look and feel than those of a generally sterile network drama. The corner of Dex in Portland, Oregon, is dirty and lit by cheap fluorescent light bulbs. Director James Griffiths, whose resume is full of comedies, will even occasionally interrupt action with freehand shots to keep things as disorienting as they feel for Dex while 39, she cares about a disaster at the other. Giving the show its own vivid and sinister visual language, like the graphic novel, is a quick and intelligent way to establish "Stumptown" as its own animal. A current gag involving Dex's car playing random pieces of an old mixtape is sometimes transcendent – the cold open frenetic game of "Sweet Caroline" is a surefire way to open a series – and sometimes gimmicky but at the very least, it provides an absolutely necessary lightness for the Dex, otherwise too hard, to grab it.
"Stumptown" would be well advised to give Dex more jokes to crack, or at least a brighter spirit beyond the expression of his own boredom, because of the actor's representative. As can be seen in "How I Met Your Mother" and beyond, Smulders is an extremely insightful and capable performer, particularly good at finding humor in characters who take themselves a little too seriously. Watching her whale on little criminals who never see her arrive is really rewarding. But if "Stumptown" wants viewers to invest in Dex for years, it will not only rely on Smulders' charisma, but will inspire Dex to feel more like one person and less a logline.
"Stumptown" will be presented on Wednesday, September 25 at 10 pm on ABC.
An episode watched for review.
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