Getting my crime, suspense, and justice fix

There are several not so new shows that have been steadily catching my fancy recently. They’re all on Crime/Suspense, which is now among the few channels that are happily saved in my remote control’s memory. C/S is owned by Solar Entertainment, which has several other cable channels, the most popular of which include ETC, 2nd Avenue, and Solar Sports.

It was Prison Break, the first season of which I saw in almost one sitting on DVD, which led me to C/S. I’m a lazy channel surfer—I just go through the same tried-and-tested channels for my TV fix, so it takes someone like Michael Scofield to break my routine. I was ecstatic to learn that not only did C/S show the latest episodes of Prison Break (Season 3 is currently being shown), the channel also provides me with a mega-dosage of my, well, crime-suspense fix.

To begin with, the channel shows reruns of all three Law & Order franchises: the original Law & Order series, and the spin-offs Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. All shows follow the American criminal justice system—from investigation to arrest to negotiation and, finally, trial. What makes Law & Order fascinating is that you get to see the drama behind the whole process. I like SVU the best because it’s the most emotionally charged, due, I suppose, to the nature of the crimes. The Special Victims Unit detectives investigate crimes involving sexual assault, the very young, or the very elderly, as well as any related to the three.

Another C/S show I’ve discovered belatedly is Cold Case, which follows the stories of another police division that specializes in cold cases, or, unsolved criminal investigations. I love this show because it always starts with a flashback, usually in different lighting and with music of the time playing in the background. The scene then cuts to the present: new evidence has been dug up, or a body has been discovered, or a witness finally decides to step forward, blowing the case open. Cases can go as far back as decades, or just a couple of years. Another notable feature of this show is that the people involved in the cases are usually portrayed by two actors: one plays the past self, another plays the current self. 

Another show I watch whenever I can is Bones. The earlier seasons are being shown in other channels. Bones is very loosely based on the works of real-life forensic anthropologist and crime novelist Kathy Reichs, who created the main character, Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan. Dr. Brennan’s first incarnation was as the protagonist of Reichs’ crime novel series. In the television series, however, Dr. Brennan is more like Reich than, well, the book-version Dr. Brennan. This show is a forensics and police procedural drama that focuses on the FBI cases Dr. Brennan’s forensic anthropology team is working on. Bones is a very intriguing, impossibly cerebral, yet adorable character.

I also love to watch Medium, which is about research medium Allison DuBois’ work in different police cases. Incidentally, Allison DuBios is a real person and the episodes are based on autobiographical material. Useful information on certain people or crimes comes to Allison in disturbing dreams or cryptic visions. As expected, some scenes border on the creepy.

Other C/S shows range from the latest big hits, like Heroes, Firefly, The Sopranos and Survivor: China (I’m not as good a couch potato as I used to be, so I’ve been avoiding getting hooked on these shows) to fairly new favorites like Without A Trace (about an FBI unit specializing in missing persons investigations), Stand Off (about hostage negotiators), Shark (a legal drama with a rather, er, interesting lawyer at the helm), and old favorites that still do the trick, like Murder, She Wrote and Dominick Dunne: Power, Privilege & Justice. And then there are the forensic documentaries in C/S Chronicles.

Judging from my taste in television shows, I could be one really disturbed person. Or maybe I really just like seeing justice delivered, which is usually the case in most of the shows I’ve mentioned. You don’t see much of it happen in real life, especially in this country where corrupt politicians can be pardoned and forgiven just like that. It makes you believe there’s still justice in this world, even if much of it is fictional—and on TV.

Yeah, I’m sure it’s pretty much the latter.  

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