Anthony Stokes reviews the series premiere of FX’s The Bridge….
FX is back with another winner with The Bridge, a cop drama that takes place on two different sides of the border. Based on the Scandinavian crime drama of the same name, the basic premise is that a serial killer commits a murder on both sides of the border, causing two cops with different dispositions to work together to solve the case.
In lesser hands, this could have easily just been campy, or network slop tossed at audience; I could see this being an incredibly mediocre cop drama at TNT. However, almost immediately The Bridge sucked me in by avoiding traditional pitfalls of the genre. It’s not completely new, but it manages to take tropes and bend them just enough that they don’t feel recycled. The American cop (Diane Kruger) is an uptight female who is strict and by the book and the Mexican cop (Demián Birchir) is more relaxed with a laid back approach. Granted it sounds very familiar, but it’s handled very well. The American has a hard time relating to people in general with very few social skills while the Mexican is in a system that encourages cops to look the other way. And there’s not a lot of shtick or obvious humor that plays off their differences either; there’s one moment that perfectly sums up their relationship and how they relate to one another, while the rest of the episode avoids hammering the audiences in the head with “isn’t it funny how different they are”?
The main thing that works is the contrast, not only in the characters, but in their respective countries. Mexico isn’t painted as hell on earth. There’s one specific area which is portrayed in particular as being a bad area, but the rest of the scenes in Mexico are done with a lot of respect which I admire. America is shown as not being perfect either, but it’s not blatant and it makes sense in the context of the story. I feel like this show is going to work to something really big that makes a statement about Mexican / U.S. relations. The episode ends with a chilling dilemma followed by a very well presented question: “How come when something happens in Mexico happens it’s not as big of a deal if something happenned in America”. Thought provoking, and something which is aided by the balance painted in the episode.
The Bridge looks to be a show to watch out for. It could easily have been cheesy in a boring and methodical way, fitting in line with the rest of other cop procedurals, but inteads it transcends cliches with the guiding hand of good writing and talented showrunners in Meredith Stiehm (Homeland) and Elwood Reid (Cold Case). I’ve seen better pilots of course, but this left the foundation to build upon and lead into a great season. There’s triple AAA shows like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Boardwalk Empire, and I think this will fit just under them and eventually reach those heights in the near future.
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.
Originally published July 13, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
