Fall Preview: K-VILLE

Premiere Date: September 17, 2007
Airs: Mondays @ 9pm

Two years after Katrina, parts of the city are still in chaos, but hope has emerged. Battling an upsurge of violence, understaffing of police forces and a lack of crime labs and other facilities, the cops who remain in the New Orleans Police Department have courage to burn and a passion to reclaim and rebuild their city.

MARLIN BOULET (Anthony Anderson) is a brash, wry, in-your-face veteran of the NOPD’s Felony Action Squad, the specialized unit that targets the most-wanted criminals. Even when his partner deserted him during the storm, Boulet held his post, spending days in the water saving lives and keeping order. Now, two years later, he’s unapologetic about bending the rules when it comes to collaring bad guys. The stakes are too high, and the city too fragile, for him to do things by the book.Boulet’s new partner, TREVOR COBB (Cole Hauser), was a soldier in Afghanistan before joining the NOPD. He’s tough and committed, but if he’s less than comfortable with Boulet’s methods, it’s because he’s harboring a dark secret. Cobb has come to New Orleans seeking redemption, but redemption can be dangerous. Will Boulet be able to trust him? Will Cobb’s past endanger them both?

Through its no-holds-barred crime stories and dramatic personal stories, this intriguing series will take viewers from the Victorian mansions of the Garden District to the rubble of the Lower 9th Ward.

At first I was weary about a cop drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans. Was it going to exploit the disaster? Was it going to do more harm than good? I can’t say that I loved K-VILLE, but this isn’t my favorite genre so it had that going against it from the beginning. I don’t watch cop shows, I don’t’ really watch many procedurals. But I think K-VILLE has some promise. The backdrop of Katrina actually brings something interesting to the show. New Orleans becomes the third main character in the show, and with any good character it will only work if we get to see the character transform and grow over time. As for the other leads, I’m a big fan of Cole Hauser and both he and Anthony Anderson deliver as cops looking for redemption in a place that fights them at every turn. I personally found one of the B-storylines, that of Katrina deserter Charlie Pratt to be most compelling and I’m really interested to see that play out.  If you like this type of gritty cop dramas, then K-VILLE is worth checking out. (More of K-Ville later today)

K-VILLE Videos:

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