The Catch

As someone who has grown exhausted by frenetic and increasingly absurd plotting of "Scandal" and "How To Get Away With Murder," I suspect "The Catch" will prove at least as durable simply because the stakes aren't as high here, and it doesn't take itself as seriously.

What starts off as a lusty and dewy-eyed dance between lovers quickly turns into a taut game of cat and mouse more titillating than the pair’s pending nuptials. Enos and Krause have palpable chemistry.

If Enos and Krause can keep things fresh and frisky--and the writers can sustain the premise--The Catch could be quite fetching. [25 Apr 2016, p.57]

It’s heightened reality at its finest as Vaughan and her associates (Elvy Yost, Jay Hayden and Rollins) proceed to track down the con artists who hacked them and stop them before too much damage is done.

The pilot is a slick, constantly entertaining hour of programming, directed by Julie Anne Robinson with hell-for-premium-leather pacing and a surplus of stylized, split-screen transitions.

Despite a few directorial errors--a stunning over-reliance on pop music, for example (please stop with the Pitbull), and a too-eager-to-please hyperactive editing style--there’s something engaging about The Catch. It’s largely due to the overwhelming charisma of its two leads, but there’s also just something witty about the set-up and the promise of a cat-and-mouse game in which the two roles are constantly being reversed.

The Catch is about illusions, also about who’s real, or not. It’s about human mirages. Could Ben possibly be a genuine “catch,” or is he just another Shondaland heel in a bespoke suit? The answer is not so clear-cut, and it’s also what makes The Catch so possibly engaging.

The Catch contains all the ingredients we've come to expect from the folks at Shondaland: glossy production values, a diverse cast, hyper-articulate dialogue, hairpin plot twists and lots of eye candy and writhing hips. If you've been a fan, you'll surely want to take another ride on the roller coaster. If that stuff makes you want to spit at your TV, it's best that you keep your distance.

Enos is terrific, managing the seeming impossible: to go from adoring fiancee to avenging private-eye angel in a flash. She’s well partnered with Krause, who is an entirely convincing liar when Ben and Alice are still together, and equally credible when his ruse is revealed. The show moves so fast, you may miss its logical flaw until after the episode ends.

Retooling usually ruins a show, but not so with The Catch, which works precisely because of Heinberg’s changes. Of Shonda Rhimes’ block of Thursday night dramas, The Catch most resembles Scandal, with a gorgeous, well-heeled squad of operators doing dirty work for powerful people.

If you prefer your crime dramas from the To Catch a Thief corner of the genre, The Catch has much to recommend it, including clever plotting and an elegant, witty cast. Enos, a long way from the bipolar ragamuffin detective she played in The Killing, shows that she can rock an evening gown.

The Catch is sort of Shondaland’s roller-coaster in that sense--it moves so fast, gearing up and careening down, shooting left and right, and its effusive energy makes it easy to forgive the familiarity of some of its themes.

There are a few things The Catch will need to establish before taking off. For instance, it’s a bit hard to buy Alice’s and Ben’s instant attraction. But as light entertainment, the show flies by pretty quickly, a good fit for the #TGIT playground.

The Catch wants you to hope for the best, but he’s such a sociopath, it’s hard to root for their relationship to end anywhere but in a lifetime sentence behind bars. Still, Enos is terrific and makes this caper a fun ride toward righteous retribution.