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Lethal Weapon: The Complete First Season
Starring: Damon Wayans, Clayne Crawford, Jordana Brewster, Keesha Sharp, Michelle Mitchenor, Kevin Rahm, Johnathan Fernandez |
Plot Summary Combining high-octane action with humor and drama, Lethal Weapon reboots the hit film franchise and its iconic cop duo. When grief-stricken ex-Navy Seal Martin Riggs (Clayne Crawford) moves to California to start over, he’s paired with Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans) who’s back at the LAPD after a near-fatal heart attack. Riggs’ impulse for diving into the line of fire instantly clashes with Murtaugh’s by-the-book approach. Yet, after the first few car chases, explosions and shootouts, each man comes to recognize his partner’s true worth and, above all, their shared values. Now, if Riggs could only manage not to get them both killed! The intensity explodes in all 18 Season One episodes! (from Warner Bros.) |
Season Review It’s risky business to try to make a TV series out of a popular film franchise. It doesn’t work more times than it does, but Warner Bros. rolled the dice on a couple movie-to-TV series recently, with failed attempts at expanding on 90’s hits, like Rush Hour and Frequency. Quality varied between the two, with the latter being an interesting concept to expand on, but they also just didn’t quite have the necessary ingredients to succeed for the long haul. However, a full-on TV series reboot of 80’s action franchise Lethal Weapon not only was the riskiest property to update for the small screen, but it proved to have the most potential. Comedic actor Damon Wayans was practically in retirement when the show’s producers invited him to join the cast. He read the script and quickly said “yes,” but while they had found their Roger Murtaugh, their search for Martin Riggs proved to be incredibly more difficult. Little-known indie actor Clayne Crawford is a surprising choice for Riggs, but after an episode or two of watching Crawford juggle the high emotions between putting on the charm and struggling with the loss of his wife — and buddying up with Wayans — it’s quick to see there’s something really special here.
For the sake of full disclosure, I admit I haven’t actually seen more than a handful of scenes from the original four films when they’ve been shown on TV (they’re pretty rough R-rated flicks, which I try to avoid), but I’ve definitely enjoyed Mel Gibson’s and Danny Glover’s work through the years (I mean, Maverick… c’mon. So good! And Pure Luck is a guilty pleasure). With that said, I’m a bit fuzzy on the drama in the theatrical Riggs’ life or even Murtaugh’s, but it’s interesting to see the show delve into their lives in detail from episode to episode. In the Lethal Weapon TV pilot, we see a flashback where Riggs’ wife dies in a car accident. It then flashes forward 6 months to where Riggs and Murtaugh first meet and are paired up. Murtaugh has just recovered from a heart attack and is looking to keep his heart rate steady and his stress level minimal… which clearly becomes a challenge once Riggs comes into his life. But what ensues is a lot of action, humor, and heart. A great deal of season one revolves around Riggs’ mental state. One of the other main characters is Dr. Maureen Cahill (played wonderfully by Jordana Brewster), who is the precinct’s therapist, and she regularly helps Riggs try to confront his inner demons. Riggs abuses alcohol and is seen even smoking weed at times, all in a vain effort to cope with his loss. His brokenness doesn’t stop him from helping others and doing his job, however, but it enables him to risk his life on a regular basis in often crazy ways to ensure the safety of others. Seeing Riggs at such extreme highs and lows can be jarring at times, and it makes the show a bit of a rollercoaster ride of emotions (especially if you’re prone to empathizing with characters).
The occasional rough content is the only thing holding back a higher rating from me. It’s a solid action-comedy buddy cop show with some deeper, dramatic themes for the viewers to sink their teeth into. It’s entertaining, fun, and even relatable. And it’s tough to not get wrapped up in the heartache Riggs wrestles with and the everyday drama of the Murtaugh family. As you probably can expect from a show of this nature, there isn’t any spiritual meat to it (and Heaven knows Riggs needs Jesus as much as the rest of us), but there aren’t really any anti-Christian themes either. Diehard fans of the films may have the hardest time accepting these new players, but otherwise, it’s a great television series and Season 1 has me eagelry awaiting Season 2 this fall! – John DiBiase (reviewed: 9/24/17)
Blu-Ray Special Features Review Lethal Weapon: The Complete First Season is available with all 18 episodes in a 3-disc Blu-Ray set (without Digital HD this time, unfortunately) or a 4-disc DVD set. The special features are pretty thin for this set, which really surprises me. It proved to be a successful show, so it seems a little odd that there isn’t even an interview segment from the show’s two main stars. I’d imagine, though, if it continues to be successful, the Season 2 set will have more to offer.Disc One Deleted Scenes – The only other extras on Disc One are Deleted Scenes, separated by episode. “Pilot” (4:03) features a scene showing Riggs thinking about his wife and contemplating suicide. Another scene shows Roger calling his wife to tell her he loves her. The next scene shows Dr. Cahill talking with Roger and then Riggs holding his broken cell phone and thinking about Miranda. From “Best Buds” (1:54), we have Roger asking Martin if he smoked up, and then the chief talks to Roger. In the next scene, Roger and Martin get in a car and Roger sneaks a breakfast sandwich for himself. In “Spilt Milk” (0:40), Cruz apologizes to Riggs and then Riggs gives Cruz a tip to follow Roger’s lead (They probably should have left this one in, given the context).
Disc Three Reloading Lethal Weapon (15:41) – The only behind-the-scenes featurette shows Johnathan Fernandez, who plays Scorsese, sitting with the show’s producers to discuss how the show came together. One of them had actually worked on Lethal Weapon 4 before moving to work on TV, while the other was a huge fan of the film series. Here they talk about the similarities between the show and films, key locations making cameos, how Thomas Lennon appears as the Joe Pesci character, how the producers met with director Richard Donner to talk about the project, etc. They then tell how they cast Damon Wayans in the part but had a really hard time finding the right Riggs. They then reveal that when they found Clayne Crawford, he was mowing his lawn at home in Alabama! This fun featurette concludes with a focus on the locations they shot in, shooting in Los Angeles, and more. Gag Reel (2:53) – Lastly we have a short gag reel that features some line mess-ups and goofing off on set (with any language being bleeped out). It’s fun, but it seems pretty short for a full season’s worth of material. |