I’ve run afoul of the Criminal Element again, this time with a look at the Esquire TV series Spotless. After the detectives have gone and CSI gets done picking dandruff out of the shag carpet; after the police barrier tape comes down…then what? Someone’s gotta clean up the mess. The…
Da Vinci’s Spooks: Intelligence
I’m enmeshed with Criminal Element again, this time with a look at the Canadian cop series Intelligence. Mounties aside, we in the U.S. don’t usually think of Canada as the sort of place that would spawn a great TV police show. (Insert polite-criminal joke here.) Yet it did: Da Vinci’s…
CSI Queensland: The Strip
I’m abetting the Criminal Element again, this time with a look at the Australian cop series The Strip. Imagine, if you will, that Jerry Bruckheimer was so taken by his time producing The Amazing Race Australia (yes, there was one) that he decides to create a cop show set in…
To Protect and Non-Violently Serve: Rush
In another entanglement with the Criminal Element, I look at the Australian street-cop series Rush. Most Western police forces have, broadly speaking, two levels of response for field incidents: whatever the regular patrol officers can provide, and the commandos (aka SWAT). So what happens in a situation that’s too much…
Murder Most Aussie: City Homicide
I’m back at play with the Criminal Element, this time with a look at the Australian police series City Homicide. Why don’t we ever hear about Australian crime dramas? All nations have crime. They all experience murder. If their local film industries have advanced beyond talking heads and news, you…
The Honourable Woman: Trapped Inside the Feedback Loop
[It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything even remotely related to my international thriller Doha 12, but this certainly qualifies. It also marks my return to Criminal Element after a long hiatus. Enjoy.] Like the Cold War, the endless Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the dramatist’s gift that keeps on giving….
Criminal Element: Crossing Lines
I’m caught up in the Criminal Element again. This time, I consider the case of Crossing Lines: Crossing Lines, NBC’s ten-episode Eurocrime entry into the summer-series derby, probably sounded like a great idea in the pitch meeting. Crime! Europe! Sexy cops! Paris! Donald Sutherland! Europe! The short-run series has done…
Criminal Element: The Godfather Down Under
I’m consorting with the Criminal Element again, this time with a profile on the Australian gangster TV series The Straits: Things we think about when we think of Australia: kangaroos, the Sydney Opera House, endless beaches, tropical reefs, Paul Hogan, Anna Torv (or Elle Macpherson, if you’re of a certain…
I’ve Joined the Criminal Element: Continuum
Criminal Element, a mystery/thriller/crime site run by Macmillan, has just posted the first of what I hope will be several articles written by…me. Continuum: Future Cop on Today’s Beat Continuum, SyFy’s latest series (U.S. debut on January 14), drops a cop and some villains from the future into 2012 and…