Crossing Lines Season One
Synopsis:
Crossing Lines is NBC’s new action-packed global crime drama. The series taps into a unit mandated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate cross-border crimes and ultimately bring global criminals to justice. “Crossing Lines” is set in the world’s most exotic locales, where an elite team of eager cops work to solve the most notorious international crimes.
Through globalization, many countries have been opened and barriers removed to ensure easy trade, travel and cultural diversity. However, this openness has given opportunities to criminals looking to exploit the system and ultimately threaten our global safety. As Europe has become a “safe house” for criminals eluding law enforcers, a special kind of law enforcement team is needed to handle specific ongoing crimes on a global level. “Crossing Lines” is the story of one such team, made up of five international cops, headed by Captain Daniel. The team – comprised of individuals who have little in common – must learn to live and work under the most dangerous and potentially deadly conditions. Housed in an unused storage section underneath the ICC, this mismatched team faces bureaucratic, jurisdictional and cultural obstacles while traversing continents in pursuit of justice.
Review:
William Fichtner plays Carl Hickman, a former New York cop and a brilliant detective. Marc Lavoine is Louis Daniels, the head of this new team of international cops based in Europe. Donald Sutherland plays Michel Dorn, an inspector in the International Criminal Court and confidant of Daniels. And the rest of the team consists of German policeman Sebastian Berger (Tom Wlaschiha), Italian Europol sergeant Gabriella Pession (Eva Vittoria), Irish detective Tommy McConnel (Richard Flood), and French detective Anne-Marie San (Moon Dailly). The characters slowly develop throughout the season. Thankfully, Hickman gets most of the focus as his character is the most interesting and complex. But the others have their dark sides and secrets as well. The cast and their chemistry is what first drew me in to this series. There are a lot of crime dramas on TV, but this quickly became my favorite. For those, like me, who enjoy science fiction, there’s even a tech guy (Berger) with gadgets that are futuristic and unique.
Crossing Lines was a surprising and fantastic new series that shouldn’t be missed. Based in Europe, this diverse team gets to travel across borders to hunt dangerous criminals. The stories are gritty and intense. And with only 10 episodes in the first season, it’s over too quickly. Unfortunately, it aired this summer and no one I talked to had ever heard of it. The marketing was terrible here in the US. Thankfully, it was more popular overseas and is picked up for another season. Though there is no news when/if NBC will air it here in the States.