I've liked every episode this season, but was "Brother's Keeper" a listless hour of television. Dark Blue used to have an edge--as slight as it was--that set it apart from other cop shows, but the addition of Alex Rice is proving more troublesome to the entire makeup of the show than I previously anticipated.
She's a by-the-book FBI agent intent on keeping the team in order and following the law. However, she's also in a relationship with Carter, a very plain one at that, which sucks out any interdepartmental issues that should arise. We see Carter completely disregard her orders and go off on his own (not nearly as wild as some stunts in the first season), but receives little backlash from Alex. Instead, the episode ends on cutesy pizzicato and guitar plucks while Alex and Carter walk off in tandem.
But I wonder if the change in tone is an attempt to garner better ratings. Looking at the most popular cable shows, none are nearly as serious as Dark Blue. Could the writers be deliberately trying to make the show lighter in tone to get more viewers?
Score: 7.5/10
