Good Behavior

This is a strangely not-quite-there show, one that has assembled all the elements of a classic but settles for being watchable.

Mr. Hodge and Mr. Crouch, who share the writing in the early episodes, can’t seem to find the balance between suspense and incipient romance. The best part of the show is the sniping banter between Ms. Dockery and Mr. Botto, but there isn’t enough of it, and it’s so out of tune with the mystery and murder plot--which is grim and rather pedestrian--that you’re never really prepared for it.

The show is energizing and a fun thrill ride in its first hour until Letty falls off the wagon. Then it just turns depressing, meandering down a dark road that’s in keeping with TNT’s new aesthetic, but a bit too far out of step with how Good Behavior plays until that point.

Good Behavior may develop into a guilty pleasure once it gets past the icky origins of its romance, but its value along the way--primarily, an ass-kicking female protagonist taking vengeance on oppressive, rotten men--is largely mooted by a relationship contrary to that very mission.

Letty might actually be a better protagonist for an old-school TNT show, taking on another caper and identity in each episode. Forced into a dark, gritty ongoing storyline, she ends up a chore to watch.

These two criminals are supposed to have chemistry so we need another scene to set that up. Good Behavior, based on a series of novels by Blake Crouch (“Wayward Pines”), has some very awkward moments like these. The series also saddles Letty with way too much baggage, requisite for any “flawed” TV character.

Good Behavior is a convoluted antihero crime drama, prone to episode bloat and pulpy titillation. Too little vision spread out over too many episodes, the blank spaces of Good Behavior throw its limitations--plot, perspective, performance, and a lot of product placement for automotive brands--into sharper relief.