Explosive
Summary
Plot: The life of ex-FBI analyst, Alex Kane (Phillip Winchester, Strike Back), now a security expert in Las Vegas, is turned upside down during an evening with his ex-wife Ginny (Daisy Betts, Last Resort), as she is killed by unknown assailants and he is framed by unknown perpetrators for her death. Eager to track down her murderers, Kane runs into a high-stakes gambling operation run by “Pit Boss” Isaiah Johnson (Wesley Snipes, Blade) and “Dealer” Cassandra King (Charity Wakefield, The Raven). The game hinges on gamblers betting on crimes by pitting a “Player” against criminals. Cassandra helps the Player with almost unlimited resources as the punters bet on who will gain the upper hand over a limited timeframe. Will Alex be able to find his wife’s killer while acting as the “Player” each game?
Review: Well-crafted by creator John Fox (Dr. Ken) and John Rogers (Transformers), and produced by John Davis (the Predator film saga), this show is balls-to-the-wall fun in every way! Incorporating elements of Taken, Enemy of the State, Hard Target, The Fugitive, Point Break and either version of The Equalizer, this show successfully builds on familiar territory to craft its own vision. It does this by either focusing on three different aspects: Alex being tracked by former detective and FBI accomplices who are unsure if he’s a vigilante or undercover with some other organization; Mr. Johnson’s shady dealings with other rivals from his violent mysterious past; and Alex surviving every deadly competition.
The filmmakers make sure to not over-complicate the premise with too many other subplots and making sure that the genre requirements are met with eye-catching visuals, car chases, creative gunfights and death-defying stunts, while having the action get the characters to the next stage of the story as opposed to feel like easily removable set pieces and other excessive crud. Winchester’s Alex comes off as a more relaxed Jack Bauer on 24 and as danger-prone as Christopher Chance on Human Target while making the character his own with the appropriate charisma and physical attributes. Snipes is scene-stealing as ever and makes Johnson both appropriately taunting and multi-layered, showing that he’s not necessarily a complete bad guy, just in a not-so-respectable profession.
At 9 episodes and at a terrible timeslot, it was clear that NBC had no interest in continuing this show, let alone helping it find an audience. While available to stream on Crackle (as it’s a Sony produced show), they had no excuse to not continue this show.
P.S.: I however, lucked out by getting my own satisfaction to the cliffhanger. While doing TV show extra work in Dallas, TX in 2016, I was booked for a TV pilot called Broken. It was produced by Reese Witherspoon, and starring Anna Paquin, Blair Underwood and The Player’s Wakefield(!) This other show was essentially L.A. Law for a female audience but didn’t get picked up, yet I had the last laugh by introducing myself to Wakefield. When she saw that I recognized her from her previous show, she spilled the beans on what would’ve happened had The Player continued and it was some cool stuff that only makes me madder that good TV keeps getting removed by the inept network suits.