Good Behavior

The true accomplishment of Good Behavior, created by Chad Hodge and Blake Crouch (based on Crouch’s novel), is that none of this seems as hokey as it sounds. Dockery digs deep and gives a frenetic and often moving performance.

Good Behavior so far is a work in progress with two leads who show considerable promise in terms of making it all work.

Good Behavior surrounds its star with so much deep and heady dramatics; dark, foreboding settings; and an ample and able supporting cast that it might actually last a while.

Not only is Raines a crook, but she’s an alcoholic and an addict. It takes some getting used to seeing Dockery in this role. Botto, though, is perfect, suave and sinister as the hitman.

Good Behavior is both a caper drama and a dark romance, and Dockery and Botto sizzle together.

Dockery’s rousing chameleonic performance, along with the tension-filled interplay she has with Botto, are enough to have us hoping that Good Behavior will ultimately be as good as it can be.

Dockery and Botto have heat to spare, and troubling as Letty and Javier’s partnership may be, the actors’ performances make us believe that the two have enough in common for the plot to evolve into a standout narrative.

Their [Michelle Dockery and Juan Diego Botto] chemistry--both between the characters and the actors--is formidable. ... [But] It’s hard to figure out how Hodge and Crouch will make the show’s central relationship work more comfortably and believably moving forward.

Good Behavior is entertaining in its own shaggy way and, at the very least, a solid addition to a network whose one-hour drama track record has otherwise been somewhat spotty.

Letty may be a hot mess, but she’s an essentially decent person--why, she even listens to self-help tapes to try and psych herself into leading a better life. But if you let the show carry you along--especially into the strong second episode, directed by Carl Franklin--you may find yourself rooting for these antiheroes.

Good Behavior kicks off as maybe the best drama pilot TNT has produced since Southland, while Dockery's new direction as a bad girl is wonderfully realized--and a very welcome relief for anyone tired of the reserved Lady Mary. ... But more than anything, Good Behavior's pivotal fourth episode will need to address how Letty and Javier stay together and why--and it can't take place in a car with a fading battery. If there's a convincing way to keep these two connected, Good Behavior could really be something for TNT.