The Red Line

Despite the frequent indulgence of made-for-broadcast dramatic swells--the premise of the show leads characters to just happen to cross paths with one another at defining, transformative moments--“The Red Line” displays much more empathy and intelligence than design. Its handling of the racial and political elements of the story are particularly skilled.

Turns out The Wire meets This Is Us is a rather satisfying sweet spot. The series taps into it in the final few minutes of the pilot, which airs Sunday night, then starts digging for gold in the second and third episodes, and finds it sooner than you might’ve thought. And the central performances are so strong that you might sign on for the duration.

Co-produced by TV maestro Greg Berlanti and director Ava DuVernay, the story combines the pair’s strengths: The plainspokenness of Berlanti’s work and the nuance of DuVernay’s meld into a story whose strength comes in part from the audience it may potentially reach.

Some plot threads are handled with more subtlety than others. ... More often, though, “The Red Line” rings true and packs a powerful emotional punch.

[The Red Line] raises ambitious questions over its eight episodes. ... But the show juggles these complex themes with a surplus of stories. [19/26 Apr 2019, p.88]

It's a show with flaws aplenty. At times I'm not even sure that it's all that good, but damned if it isn't the kind of show I wish broadcast networks had the guts to do more frequently.

It’s not subtle, but it is smart. It’s openly emotional, but rarely manipulative. It, too, wears its heart on its sleeve, a quality that enables it to get the best of its occasional heavy-handed dialogue, needlessly twisty plotting, and a tendency to overcrowd and repeat itself.

At times, “The Red Line” exhibits some of the care and thoughtful structure that viewers so loved in John Ridley’s riveting and topical ABC series “American Crime” or in Veena Sud’s single season of Netflix’s superb “Seven Seconds.” At other times it lapses into some network habits, sacrificing its rawness for a more polished, procedural approach. ... There are, however, some knockout performances that make the series worth seeing through to the end--especially from Wyle.

At times overly earnest, “The Red Line,” written by Chicago playwrights Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss and executive produced by Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) and Greg Berlanti (“The Flash”), is imperfect, but its existence demonstrates broadcasters haven’t completely thrown in the towel on quality drama and for that viewers can be grateful.

Wyle’s lead performance is solid, although more than a little weepy. ... Red Line is a revelation, though, in terms of introducing Aliyah Royale to a national audience. Her portrayal of Jira is terrifically compelling and natural. ... Red Line force-feeds more than it should. It has some messages of true value while also failing to resonate to the degree it could have and should have.

That "The Red Line" often does as well as it does is a tribute to the cast and the overall production. But apple polish is still apple polish. ... There's a real world out there with real-world shootings of unarmed black men by the police, with horrific consequences, and a vast gulf of mistrust that separates whole communities from law enforcement. No CBS miniseries, however worthy the intentions, could probably get its head around that reality. "The Red Line" certainly tries, but falls short.

This tragic tale of a police shooting and its aftermath -- infused by race and the rough-and-tumble of Chicago politics -- plays like a rather pallid soap opera, awkwardly juggling its intersecting plots.

The drama ultimately arrives at the destination you knew it would right from the opening moments. By trying to tell everyone’s story, “The Red Line” forgets to tell one good one.

This unconventional broken family's anguish and desire for retribution against a rigged system would suffice for a gripping drama with plenty of social relevance. But The Red Line stacks the deck by introducing a third protagonist. [29 Apr - 12 May 2019, p.10]