Friday, January 20, 2023

Fixing Elijah Stone -or- How to Resist A Rookie Mistake

 


    One of my favorite Network TV shows is The Rookie starring the ever-reliable Nathan Fillion. It's the story of a former contractor who, after a near-death experience facing down the gun barrel of a would-be bank robber, decides to take his life in a new direction by becoming a police officer. The show features a wide array of primarily textured characters and relatable stories, along with occasionally well-timed commentary about the necessity of proper policing and cop culture reform. While it may not get to be as gritty or as down-to-earth as it might otherwise like to be (it is owned by Disney, after all), it's still an entertaining and enjoyable show to this day. It has the prestige of lasting five seasons without jumping the shark, at least not yet. A rare accomplishment for many a Network TV shows.

    Like all good things, it has some flaws. There's the occasionally less-than-stellar writing and reoccurring supporting characters who do nothing but remind you how much you hate them. Then there are the characters who are the most frustrating, the ones with the most wasted potential. 

    Case in point, Mr. Elijah Stone! 


    Diligently portrayed by Brandon Jay McLaren (late of The Killing and Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil), Elijah Stone is a crime boss with, sadly, not much personality beyond any given typical evil & sociopathic crime lord seen in almost any cop drama ever devised. That's not to say that the character is pointless or doesn't bring anything substantial to the table; instead, what he does bring is insultingly overused and undermines many of the otherwise boundary-breaking (somewhat) narrative choices made in the show. 

    Allow me to provide some context for those who do not regularly watch The Rookie. SPOILERS from here on out.  

    In the show's fourth season, one of the supporting characters, Detective Angela Lopez (Alyssa Diaz), was kidnapped and spirited away across the border by a ruthless Mexican drug cartel. Her husband, attorney-at-law Wesley Evers (Shawn Ashmore), sought a means of finding his kidnapped love. His efforts lead him to a meeting with notorious crime boss Elijah Stone, who agrees to help him find his wife in exchange for a "favor." After a successful rescue mission, Elijah moves on Wesley to cash in on their agreement. 

    This setup, in and of itself, is a good one. It's an excellent way of building new stories and adding texture to the characters and overall narrative. 

    Instead, we end up with the typical and insanely overdone crime-boss-milking-a-favor schtick for far too long! 

    Don't get me wrong, it is highly likely, and even expected, for any given criminal overlord to take advantage of the innocent and exploit the vulnerable. But there, my beautiful readers, lies the problem; it was expected

    Part of the show's appeal, at least to me, is that it does its best to avoid (within reason for Network TV) things typically found in most cop shows. The overall narrative of a middle-aged man trying to pull a 180 on his life dictates that notion. And a stereotypical crime boss continuously milking the efforts out of a reluctant victim of circumstances, while realistic, does not fit with the spirit of the show. At least, not in my opinion. 

    What would have made Elijah's character more interesting and more likely to maintain audience engagement is if he was more of an "old-fashoned" crime boss, not unlike Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather. He helps Wesley as a favor (singular) in exchange for another favor (also singular). Any exchange after that would be brand new and cause additional engaging storylines. Maybe Elijah could be more of a practicalist and finds benefits in maintaining a "working" relationship with the police, creating opportune stories for commentary on the moral grey areas between law and criminal. 

    While I still enjoy the show to this day, a grand opportunity was missed for no sound reason other than the writers & producers either needed more creative freedom, talent, or courage to subvert expectations and offer bold narrative choices. This subplot, as it stands, may annoy me, but with a bit of hope, it can be done better in another show in the future. Only time will tell. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading. 

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