Unforgettable: Series Premiere

If only this show lived up to it’s name, unfortunately, the pilot episode IS a bit forgettable. I’m hard-pressed to find anything to break down too much. The execution is smooth, the concept is solid, the acting is at least up to par and better in some cases, so what then is holding back this show? 

Poppy Montgomery stars as Carrie Wells, an ex-police officer with an eidetic memory. Although it would seem nearly impossible to show a person who simply can’t forget anything on TV, the creators have found a way to show us what happens in Carrie’s head. As she strains to remember every detail about a situation she’s seen, we watch it from an outside perspective, and we get to see the direction she was looking while she was there. Essentially, she concentrates really hard until she notices the thing that she didn’t consciously notice before. She seems to have to struggle a little too much to access the information, but let’s chalk that up to her being rusty at the beginning of the show. Unfortunately, for someone who can’t forget, she spends way too much time remembering. Ultimately, she’ll have to learn to do this almost effortlessly. With her police training, she should be well equipped to notice details that are important. In this episode, she has to watch memories two or three times to glean the relevant information. As intriguing as the shooting style is, this could grow quite boring pretty quick.

This concept has real potential. It’s a bit fascinating to watch her rebuild the world in her own head, but it seems to have a few serious limitations. The show is moving towards a cop-drama of sorts. Each week, Carrie will be pulled in to help on a different case, and each week her memory will save the day. However, the real problem here is that she has to be present at a crime. If she doesn’t witness it, her memory can’t really help. If she does witness a crime a week, she should take out a HUGE life insurance policy. There’s a nice story woven in about Carrie trying to remember the day her sister was murdered, and that should help propel the series, but there’s still more which seems a bit off.

I’ve never been able to see Dylan Walsh, who plays her detective/ex-boyfriend Al Burns, as a leading man of any sort. Even in Nip/Tuck there was something about him that never screamed to me: this is why he got a leading role. He seems like a quirky friend, or a villain at best. Yet somehow he keeps landing leading roles in dramas. It’s not a lack of talent. It’s more of a chemistry issue. A leading man has a huge burden to shoulder. Leading men always have to have a romantic arc, an action side, and they have to be more calculated than any other character. Their choices have to be bold and interesting. Dylan Walsh just doesn’t seem like the type of person who could make these tough choices. It’s not his fault, and it’s certainly not a fault of the writing. It’s a casting misstep.

The story of the pilot is tight. It doesn’t focus too much on the extraneous details of Carrie’s backstory, while still giving enough to make the audience empathetic with her. Most of the dialogue is sharp and on point. They also managed to give Carrie a nice arc about coming to terms with every event she’s ever experienced that will stay with her. Memories pop into her head at inopportune times. She has to struggle with putting these memories into her world and work with all her problems.

This show has a lot of potential to do well. It could definitely find an audience among bereaved Ghost Whisper fans. There’s certainly enough backstory in Unforgettable to make a few seasons of pretty good TV. It’s from the same creative team that brought us Without a Trace, a show that ran and ran and ran. Several members of the cast (Montgomery included) are alums of Trace. It seems only logical that this show will also find its audience. As for me… I’m not the target demographic. But there’s a lot of potential for this show to go quite far, if anyone “remembers” to watch it.