The Glades - Season Two
This low-energy A&E crime series takes place in a sparsely populated town outside of the Florida Everglades. However, it seems that this isolated location has a higher homicide rate than most congested inner cities. The central focus here is former Chicago homicide detective Jim Longworth, who is able to crack cases while placing his attention on the lovely nurse Callie Cargill - whose ex-con husband mercifully becomes her ex-husband following a quickie divorce.
The problem with this series is that it seems to have been created by people whose familiarity with police investigations was culled by watching endless reruns of second-rate TV crime shows. The characters communicate in a heavy serving of banter and sarcasm that is neither amusing nor sharp, and plot twists occur with such a heavy reliance on unrealistic coincidences that the stories become borderline Dadaist for their utter lack of logic. To its credit, the series manages to spin its flimsy magic across four discs in this DVD offering - yet trying to recall anything of value from the second season episodes is a daunting task.
Australian eye candy Matt Passmore feigns an atonal and vaguely congested voice to pass himself off as a tough American cop. The hot Florida setting allows him the professional opportunity to wear tight t-shirts and, occasionally, go shirtless. Unfortunately, the scripts offer him no chance to shine as a genuine personality.
Kiele Sanchez, as the aforementioned love interest/nurse, never manages to find any depth in her poorly defined character, while Carlos Sanchez (as a medical examiner), Michelle Hurd (as Longworth’s supervisor) and Jordan Wall (as a lab technician) fill in the stock supporting roles of Hispanic sidekick, African American ass-kicker and bespectacled geek-nerd, respectively.
