"the forgotten" Review: Getting In Its Own Way

When the premiere of the new Jerry Bruckheimer drama, “the forgotten” begins, you can’t help but roll your eyes a little…

It begins with the dead person narrating the story. You hope that’s just the way the show chooses to introduce itself, but unfortunately, it’s a device used throughout the hour, along with weird ghost-like flashes of the dead person.

I presume the show is trying to set itself apart from the other crime dramas out there, but the gimmick doesn’t work and it actually takes away from what is otherwise a pretty decent show.

“the forgotten” follows The Forgotten Network, a team of citizen volunteers who work to identify murder victims when the police have given up. Christian Slater stars as Alex Donovan, a former detective who leads the team. He is assisted by Lindsey (Heather Stephens), a high school teacher; Candace (Michelle Borth), who works a day job that bores her; Walter (Bob Stephenson), a phone company worker; and Tyler (Anthony Carrigan), an artist who is court-ordered to work for the Network. Also assisting is Grace (Rochelle Aytes), a homicide detective and the Network’s liaison to the police.

In the premiere, the team works to identify a murdered young woman who kept some less than scrupulous company in the Goth scene.

The case itself is solid and takes some pretty good twists and turns, but the show just keeps getting in its own way with the cheesy narration device and its constant need to tell us why the team exists. After the billionth “people deserve to leave this world with their name” speech, it gets a little old…

The cast is good, led by Slater, who appears to have found a TV role that suits him. I don’t know how the original was in the role (Slater is a recast.), but I think the producers made the right move. Donovan has a lot of mystery surrounding him and Slater plays that well, but he manages to do vulnerable too. And Stephenson provides just the right touch of comic relief as the overzealous Walter.

If “the forgotten” would forget a few of its bad habits from the pilot, I think ABC could really have something here…

“the forgotten” premieres Tuesday, September 22nd at 10 p.m. on ABC…

Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels/ABC