Month: July 2012

In the US: Mondays, 10/9c, TNT
In the UK: Not yet acquired, but you can bet Alibi will pick it up

There’s a great big swinging pendulum off in the TV universe somewhere that mysteriously dictates who solves crimes on tele. First it was talented amateurs, then it was private detectives, then it was the police and now, it seems, the pendulum has swung back to talented amateurs again.

See, the police have to follow rules and if they don’t, there are all kinds of political problems – either that or your show is escapist enough that people are prepared to suspend their disbelief. But if you have an amateur consultant, they can do whatever they like, more or less.

They can also have all kinds of personality quirks that probably would count against them in an institution like the police. Of course, in a crowded televisual landscape, or even on a crowded network like TNT, which already has the likes of Southland and Rizzoli & Isles, there’s something of an arms race in personality quirks as shows try to grab the viewers’ attention and distinguish themselves from the competition.

Now Perception takes us to Defcon 2 in the quirks arm race with neuroscientist, university professor and FBI consultant Dr Daniel Pierce (Will and Grace‘s Eric McCormack), who trumps The Mentalist, Psych, Lie To Me and practically every other amateur detective yet to grace our screens. Because Pierce goes into territory even Raines feared to tread: he’s a schizophrenic who refuses to take his meds so a lot of the time, when he’s talking to suspects, the suspects aren’t always there – although they have a lot to say for themselves.

Here’s a trailer:

Continue reading “Review: Perception (TNT) 1×1”