W - The Unusuals

I really like having a Netflix account. I especially like finding oddball TV series and watching them in a pretty consolidated chunk. You get a better feel for the flow of a show when you watch two or three episodes a week than when you only see one each week.

There is, however, a bit of a downside to this. That downside is that there are a lot of shows that I find that are very good, in my opinion, but which never made it past their first season or even to the end of their first season. The Unusuals is one of those shows.

First of all, it is in many ways a typical police show. Each episode has one major crime and a couple smaller ones that have to be solved. In several episodes they all tie together, showing some pretty good writing along the way. The thing that made me really like The Unusuals, however, is that the emphasis is on the character and struggles of the cops themselves. The approach is one that is quirky, but not quite comedy. The ways that they all cope with their hidden secrets and personal fears can be humorous, but the acting is excellent and you can feel the truth behind the oddity.

One season was not enough, although in the one season they got almost all of the major characters secrets exposed, if not dealt with. I found myself not wanting to watch the last episode because, while I really wanted to see how it played out, I didn't want to reach the end.

I guess in the corporate world it is hard to sell quirky. If it doesn't fit into a clear genre the powers-that-be just can't handle it. I wish there were more episodes because there are still some secrets that haven't been dealt with. If you've got the time, I heartily recommend that you watch it.