‘Truth’ and dare
Lawyer probes girls’ mysterious illness in CW drama
At a moment when commercial broadcast networks have settled on a schedule of reruns, reality TV and celebrity-stuffed game shows — why is Kevin Hart suddenly everywhere and what did we do to deserve him? — CW takes perhaps the greatest risk.
It drops a drama in the dead of summer — with no superheroes, no vampires, no demon hunters and no randy teens.
“Burden of Truth” is a legal drama about a quest for justice in a small town.
This Canadian import does have one thing familiar to CW viewers: Headliner Kristin Kreuk practically grew up on the network, starring in “Smallville” and “Beauty & the Beast.”
She works her warmth and intelligence as attorney Joanna Hanley, who returns to her hometown, Millwood, to take on the case of several teenage girls who are displaying disturbing symptoms allegedly linked to a vaccine clinic.
Twist: Joanna represents the big bad pharmaceutical company and is trying to shut the girls down and make the case go away.
“No filter, no conscience — God made you the perfect lawyer,” says her proud father, David (Alex Carter, “Revenge”), who just happens to be her boss at a ritzy law firm.
Joanna crosses paths with her onetime BFF Diane Evans (Nicola Correia-Damude, “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments”), now a guidance counselor at the high school they both attended, and her onetime rival Billy Crawford (Peter Mooney, “Rookie Blue”), a one-man law firm representing the girls.
“Litigation is war,” Joanna warns Billy.
He has a personal stake in the investigation. His niece, Molly (Sara Thompson), is a jock who has been afflicted by something causing tics, twitching and seizures. What’s the cause? Why are only girls affected? “Burden” starts unspooling those answers next week.
As she becomes reacquainted with her hometown, Joanna deals with more than just the locals’ hostility toward lawyers. This anger is personal. The high school removed her father’s name from its library. One woman hears her last name and hauls off and punches her in the face. And now Joanna starts to wonder why her family left so quickly so many years ago.
Trying to reel her back in: her boyfriend and colleague, Alan (Benjamin Ayres, “Saving Hope”), who misses the shark he fell in love with — and recognizes his own career could be jeopardized if she remains in Millwood.
Kreuk, who also serves as executive producer, makes some interesting choices as her character begins to question her loyalty to her father and to her firm. The subtleties in her performance help fill in the gaps in scripts that at times range from flat to merely functional.
“Burden of Truth,” which has already been renewed in Canada, is a show by and for adults looking for something a little challenging. There can’t be a wrong season for that.