‘NCIS: New Orleans’ goes down easy enough
Let the so-so times roll. Mediocrity is not what we should hope for from a spinoff of TV’s most popular drama, just as another CSI/NCIS incarnation is much less than we should demand from America’s most popular network. Still, keeping in mind that things could always be worse — and in the case of this New Orleans based NCIS spinoff, actually were much worse — a just- OK start is at least a step up. NCIS: New Orleans was introduced last spring in a two-part NCIS special that was an alarmingly inept blunt hammer, even for a franchise not known for subtlety. Through two clumsy hours, characters summarized their lives as if they were Miss America contestants introducing themselves to the judges while slogging through dialogue so overburdened with New Orleans food and restaurant references you’d think they were narrating a travelogue.
Luckily, tonight’s first standalone episode does a better job of taking advantage of the New Orleans setting, which is one of the show’s best assets, without beating us over the head with it. Oh, and Scott Bakula’s Special Agent Dwayne “King ” Pride no longer calls everyone he meets “my brotha’” — a 100% improvement.
Good thing, too, because next to New Orleans, Bakula and costar CCH Pounder are the best reasons to watch and even root for this series, which would make saddling either one with an annoyingly mannered catchphrase particularly foolish. Instead, what the writers should be doing is giving them more scenes to share: When these two veterans are on screen together, New Orleans hits levels of skill and professionalism it otherwise skirts.
Assisting Pride in the office are agents Merri Brody (Zoe McLellan) and Christopher LaSalle (Lucas Black), who carry the burden of the banter that is an NCIS hallmark. It’s strained tonight, but as viewers get to know the characters, the chatter will begin to feel more natural — and Black will do a better job of balancing his charming accent with our need to understand what he’s saying.
The episode itself doesn’t provide many surprises — the murderer gives himself away in the first scene, or at least he does to anyone who has ever read Agatha Christie — but surprise isn’t what CBS is going for. The network wants comfort food with a dash of New Orleans spice. The result is a show that is neither ambitious nor exciting, but is now, at least, competent enough to be a decent companion for NCIS.
If that strikes you as a good time, enjoy.