Rake, right from the get go, feels like a show you’ve watched before, partly because it’s composed of things that TV audiences have been flocking to for ages; lawyer procedurals, appealing, but ultimately flawed protagonists, and a wide supporting cast of endearing straight men to bounce off of the leading wild card. Sometimes, a show feeling too comfortable and familiar can be a detriment, but here, it does no harm. Part of the Rake‘s appeal is that it isn’t too difficult of a watch. There’s no head scratching plots, world building to get used to, or small details to painstakingly trace; Rake relies solely on being light, digestible fun, something that’s been scarce as of late on TV. The legal aspect of the show also works in this pilot. Keegan unveils a police scandal where the police chief coaxes fake confessions out of a murderer to put difficult, lingering cases to bed. Peter Stormare makes the most playing the fame seeking killer, and Kinnear does a good job conveying that Keegan might not actually be half bad at his job. I found the courtroom and interrogation room scenes to be the most intriguing stuff the show had to offer. The rest of the material may need some time to resonate. We are introduced to a slew of characters that Keegan will mingle with and annoy. There’s the aforementioned best friend and his family, consisting of his prosecuting attorney wife, the assistant, therapist ex-wife, not to mention a gangster seeking retribution, a son, a friendly prostitute, and a pissed off Los Angeles Mayor. Splitting time with all of these supporting players means that we don’t get to see any of these relationships really develop, so we’ll mostly have to wait and see how they progress throughout the coming weeks. Kinnear and Bojana Novakovic (who plays prostitute Mikki) have some fun chemistry brewing, but overall, none of these characters left too great of an impression. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
