TV: K-Ville Premiere

There are several factors that would repel viewers from watching K-Ville.
1) It centers around the after effects of Katrina, a natural disaster that led to political and financial scandals.
2) Anthony Anderson (Live Free or Die Hard) and Cole Hauser (Paparazzi) are relatively unknown.
3) It would be the billionth cop drama to hit primetime.

So in order to succeed it must differentiate itself immediately from the competition. I, personally, think that two of the factors against it are actually some of its pluses. The most outsiders know about New Orleans is that it's where Mardi Gras happens and Blues is cultivated. Now that most of it is still in ruins, they know even less. What people know about what happened during the storm was edited by the press and narrated by talking heads. This show provides an interesting insight into the different effects the tragedy had on people and the state of which the city is in now.

The fact that the two main characters Marlin Boulet (Anderson) and Trevor Cobb (Hauser) are played by C-listers brings more realism to the show because they're not so high profile that you're clouded by who they're screwing this week or what drug they were caught with at what club. What we do know about these two actors is that Anderson is known for playing the fat black funny putz and Hauser is the picture of cool caged rage. So to see Anderson play a serious, determined, courageous, violent police officer and Hauser a cool-headed, repenting cop is a mesmerizing change of pace--especially since they pull it off.

To officially keep viewers for the long haul, the show has to emotionally connect us with the main characters and intrigue us with the subsequent plot lines. For the premier episode, we are introduced to New Orleans' finest, Officer Boulet (Anderson), who stuck around after the storm hit to police the streets and help the injured, unlike many real life officers who fled and abandoned their posts. Unfortunately, even Boulet's partner, Charlie, abandoned him. Needless to say, two years later, Boulet is against getting a new partner, suspicious of newbie Officer Cobb (Hauser), and reluctant to forgive Charlie despite his many attempts to regain his trust. But that's not all that plagues poor Boulet. His wife (Elise Neal from "All of Us") is keen on moving to Atlanta with their young daughter, but Boulet believes they shouldn't abandon their city and run from their fears. The little girl cries when it rains or even when the wind blows too hard at night. In one scene, when bad guys strike back at Boulet, they put a hose through the girl's window, and even if you weren't in Orleans during the storm the guerrilla style camera angle of all the water rushing in is enough to make you check the weather...twice.

Officer Cobb has his own demons to face. Boulet finds it odd that he needs no driving directions and knows the best streets to head off criminal they're pursuing. After a little snooping in the extremely low-tech police files of cardboard boxes, he discovers that Cobb has a criminal record. Apparently, the storm washed away a couple sins when it damaged thousands of police records, wiping the slate clean for many criminals. The most intriguing part about Cobb's story isn't that he did a couple of armed robbery jobs but that during the storm he was locked in his jail cell. How terrifying that must've been to wait for guards--who would rather save themselves than low life scumbags--to free you. Unfortunately, Cobb's cell mate couldn't swim and was pulling him under, so in a panic he drowned him. Ironically enough, Boulet forfeits one cowardly partner for another. And even though Cobb didn't hesitate to save Charlie when he was tied to a car sinking in the river--as opposed to Boulet who froze--we'll see throughout the season whether or not he's to be trusted.

The story line last night was about fund raisers that kept being interrupted by sprays of bullets, leading to the murder of Boulet's singer friend--as well as a metaphor for how music in New Orleans has been stunted by rampant crime. Apparently, those sunny brochures never seemed to mention that New Orleans--like any other city--has criminals. A rich girl still mourns her brother, who was murdered three years ago. So she decided the best way to prevent such a thing from happening again was to buy up all the houses from New Orleans-ers who fled to other states in order to prevent the non-convicted criminals from returning and tainting her town. That's an interesting perception that most people probably didn't consider. Katrina may have killed many innocent people, but to think for one second that it was some sort of religious cleansing that wiped out and chased away criminals, while giving others a second chance to repent. If the show continues producing hidden moral storylines, then it could have a chance at being a critic favorite.

Tonight watch the premieres of Back to You on FOX at 8pm, Grey's Anatomy Special on ABC at 9pm, and Gossip Girl on CW at 9pm.