Crossing Lines: Season One

'Crossing Lines' is yet another addition to the police detective drama, one that we have seen done many times before it. There is nothing original or fresh with this series. Maybe the only thing that it has going for it is that it's actually filmed on location overseas in Europe, rather than the Hollywood studios in good ole' California. That being said, not every location is true to its setting, meaning that some shots of Paris might be filmed in Prague and so on. But still, that is better than most of the international spy thriller shows that are on prime-time today.

This show has several problems plaguing it. In addition to not being original or packing a fresh beat, the story is riddled with dark and brooding character backgrounds that literally interrupt the task at hand, which is to track down big bad criminals across continents and nations. And each character has a dark secret, which is met with clunky dialogue and long tangents that take away our time in each episode from getting to the actual main plot of each case. It's as if the writers couldn't come up with enough action and suspense throughout each episode, so they added in some junk that doesn't make sense to fill out the hour.

'Crossing Lines' centers around a group of people from various backgrounds that have been recruited as special agents in an international police force for the I.C.C. (International Crime Court), which is off the grid. This rag-tag team pursues high-end criminals across country lines. This sounds a lot like Interpol to me, which is a very real organization. Hell, even the series mentions Interpol, but I fail to see a difference here. Maybe it is because they are "off the grid" here, that makes them special and deserving of a show.

All members of this newly found team come from some sort of police officer background and all specialize in something different. Whether it be weapons, crime, technology, mafia, or leadership, the team seems to come together right at the very end to solve a crime. Needless to say, it gets repetitive. Whether they are tracking a serial killer that leaves a dead body in every city capital that they visit or someone with a bigger crime network, the unit doesn't seem to do much other than find a few clues and talk about their twisted past. It's a sloppy story structure and the series suffers. I was shocked to find out this has been renewed for a second season.

With veteran actors like William Fitchner and Donald Sutherland attached to this project, I thought this would have been better o every aspect. Sure the actors turn in decent performances, but seem one-note most of the time, due to the shoddy script and story arcs. If 'Crossing Lines' wants to keep on the air for future seasons, it needs some serious improvements on writing and story.