The Bridge (2013)

Director: Alex Zakrzewski                            Writer: Elwood Reid
Music: Shawn Pierce                                  Cinematography: Attila Szalay
Starring: Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Ted Levine and Matthew Lillard

Fox’s new crime drama, The Bridge, started out with a very unique twist on the genre, but seems destined to devolve into a standard, hour-long, police soap opera. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, however. The show still retains a lot of the ideas and situations that made the early shows so interesting. What drew me in, primarily, was the presence of Diane Kruger who had been so effective in the National Treasure films with Nicolas Cage. In the series she plays something of a sociopathic homicide detective who has no social filters, no compassion for other, and no ability to form personal relationships. Yet, instead of becoming a serial killer herself, she became a cop. The other major star in the series is the brilliant Ted Levine, minus his cheesy moustache from Monk and sporting a cowboy hat instead. He is the captain of the homicide squad as well as a father figure and confessor for Kruger, guiding her and helping with her personal issues.

The series is based on a joint Danish/Swedish television series of the same name that first began a couple of years ago. This time, however, instead of the bridge connecting the two Scandinavian countries, it’s the bridge across the Rio Grande connecting El Paso, Texas with Juárez, Mexico. That’s the real genius of the show. Even though it is derivative of its source material, it’s as though it was made for the U.S., the “unguarded” border with Mexico being a problem area for U.S. policy for decades. Both the Mexican and Texas authorities are called in when a woman is found lying across the borderline that separates the two countries on the bridge. Since the victim is from the U.S. Kruger claims the case for herself. But when the body is discovered cut in half, and the bottom half is from a Mexican victim, Mexican homicide detective Demián Bichir who was on the bridge that night teams up with Kruger as a two-person task force working both sides of the border. Much of the dialog in Juárez and with the Mexican actors is in Spanish, which gives the show a lot of realism as well as widening the audience base.

Bichir is a real find. Working mostly in Mexican films and television series, he’s a natural, a great actor, and the perfect foil for Kruger. Little known Johnny Dowers is also part of the El Paso homicide squad. A bit of a dandy on the show, one hopes that he’ll settle into a more well-rounded character as the season progresses. And finally, a serious, straight role for Matthew Lillard as a newspaper reporter. One of the great aspects of the show is how, in their chase to catch the killer, the police keep uncovering homicides that may or may not be him. Initially they attributed every killing to the unknown murderer, but well into the first season in becomes clear that these aren’t just some random killings and, even more frightening, the principals involved may be linked to the killer in a number of unrealized ways. Plus there are interesting sub-plots, with red herring killers, illegal immigration, gunrunning and drug trafficking. The Bridge is a great new show, a police procedural with real substance and, hopefully, one that will be around for a while.