Lone Star – S1 E01 – “Pilot”

The critical darling of the season, along with Boardwalk Empire, I have to say I was unimpressed. Perhaps I do not watch enough network shows, perhaps I am not its target audience, but the show did not really click with me.

Bob Allen (James Wolk) is a con man working with his father John (David Keith) in the long con to rob oil tycoon Clint Thatcher (Jon Voight). To accomplish this Bob married his daughter Cat (Adrianne Palicki) with whom he lives in Houston. He also has a girlfriend in Midland, Lindasy (Eloise Mumford), whom he marries at the end of the pilot. After having done door-to-door sales on a fake gas well for an indeterminate amount of time, Clint gives Bob a high executive job which presents Bob with a chance at leading a normal life since Bob no longer desires to be a con man. His dad is unhappy about this, and he is also worried about his son as they have robbed half of the town in Midland.

The premise for the show isn’t bad. Working two angles, leading two lives, leads to a lot of possibilities. Breaking Bad, another critic darling, works on the same idea, and there are countless others that I could name that do too. The problem I have with this show is that the main character is too likeable and we are introduced to him in too good of a state. Other reviews and comments I have read talk about how much of a horrible person he is for ripping off these people, but I do not get the same vibe from the show. I am meant to like this guy. He has a winning smile, he is charming, and he is faithful to both of his women (as evidenced by a scene where he is propositioned by a woman at a hotel). He has two of them, which to some people might automatically put him in a negative light, but he is faithful to both of them and he loves them both. I would not call him husband of the year but I cannot find myself to dislike him just because of that; it’s not like he abuses them.

Then there is the stealing portion of his persona. Thieves in movies and TV shows, when they are not drug addicts or starving families, are often portrayed as charming rogues (Ocean’s Eleven, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, etc.). Because I really only know his perspective on these events, I cannot really turn against him right away. I have taken his viewpoint. I just cannot force myself to dislike him just because the acts he commits are morally inconsistent with my worldview.

And that is the problem. I like him, but not enough to hero worship as he has not done anything particularly spectacular, and I do not dislike him enough to find him fascinatingly disgusting. He is just uninteresting to me. Perhaps this will change in the coming episodes and he will either do something spectacular (unlikely), or access a darker side to his personality. The latter seems inconsistent with the tone of the show, but it is not impossible, so I am not writing off the show yet. Still, I am not hopeful. A great premise does not a great show make, and though the show is well acted and decently scripted, it does not yet seem to have the depth that will sustain it over many seasons. Comparing to another show that came out this week, Boardwalk Empire, I can say that though Lone Star was a smoother ride, with less awkward dialogue and exposition, Boardwalk Empire promises to satiate over a longer period of time. Lone Star from the pilot just seems to thin to sustain.