CHICAGO CRIME
Flat ‘APB’ gets no bang for mogul’s bucks
‘APB” couldn't arrive at a more awkward moment.
Fox's new crime drama about a Chicago under siege from criminals comes after President Trump has repeatedly blasted the city as a crime-ridden wasteland and has suggested the city needs federal help to stem the violence.
“APB” spotlights an arrogant billionaire who becomes furious with the city's crime rate and essentially buys a district so he can test-drive his own high-tech crime-fighting toys.
Given the time required to put together a network series, it's clear Fox and the show's producers didn't anticipate today's news and they aren't making political commentary. But the recent headlines won't help the show build an audience.
The drama is actually shot in Chicago. The city must be grateful for the jobs but unhappy as to how it is depicted, starting with a mayor who seems at worst corrupt and at best oblivious.
Justin Kirk (“Weeds”) stars as engineering mogul Gideon Reeves. Gideon is the kind of guy who thinks he can convince a crowd of rich moneybags to buy his high-tech fire suppressant by lighting blazes around them and then setting off concussive charges.
That doesn't bring in the business he'd hoped for. Funny that.
Feeling sorry for himself, Gideon has his limo driver pull over in the notorious 13th district and buys a pack of smokes in small shop.
An armed, masked robber bursts in. In the ensuing stickup, Gideon's right-hand man and best friend is killed. The 911 dispatcher leaves Gideon hanging on hold.
Gideon Reeves is not the kind of guy to be put on hold.
Six weeks later, he presents an ultimatum to Mayor Michael Salgado (Nestor Serrano, “The Last Ship”) and the city council.
Give him the 13th district to run and he'll open up his checkbook and supply the police force with the latest in technology. Refuse and he will funnel his millions into financing their opponents in the next election.
Before you can say “Robocop,” Gideon is rolling in new drones, police cars and body armor. (The show title plays off his new app, APB, which lets residents text crime in real time — or prank the police).
There's even a new coffee machine.
“It costs more than my house,” says befuddled Police Chief Ned Conrad (Ernie Hudson, “Oz”).
Street officers like Theresa Murphy (Natalie Martinez, “Kingdom”) are skeptical. They believe police work is best accomplished by human beings and not expensive toys. Some resent having to give up their firearms for tasers, even ones that fire better than shotguns.
Gideon, meanwhile, bunkers down at police headquarters, following the police as they track the man who killed his best friend. Sometimes we're watching him watch the bodycam footage, and it's just as riveting as it sounds.
“APB” never settles its own version of its existential dilemma: man or machine? It argues for both.
But as this uninspiring drama proves, sometimes when you split the difference, you end up with nothing.