TV Review: Forever

Forever is an example of the formula "Sherlock Holmes + X-factor = new detective show".  In this case we have a New York medical examiner who just happens to be immortal.  Well, not quite immortal-- he dies pretty easily, but is always resurrected a short time later, emerging naked from a nearby body of water.  This has been going on fairly regularly for the last 200 years or so.

It stars Ioan Gruffud who has admittedly amazing hair, but who never struck me as having any charisma; still, he does a reasonable job.  He mostly teams up with a detective (Alana de la Garza) who plays Watson to his Holmes, but there is a smattering of other supporting characters, most notably Judd Hirsch who has so far had nothing to do as the doctor's companion for the last 70 years or so.

I find the premise of the show to be interesting-- the idea of someone who's lived so long bringing his experience to bear in modern crime investigations could lead us down new avenues.  But so far the show has tried to make him too much like Sherlock Holmes-- he's able to deduce amazing things from very small details.  This feels like a missed opportunity; his real power is his long life experience which should give him grand insights into human behavior.  Giving him hyper-observational abilities seems like stacking the deck.

The serial immortality of the main character does invert expectations, sometimes comically.  In most crime investigation shows, you worry about the hero dying, but here we get to count how many reckless ways the doctor gets himself killed.  In only two episodes, he must have died (and been resurrected) 5 or 6 times already.  And if you think too much about it, you start wondering what happens to his clothes once his body disappears and recomposes in the Hudson Bay.  Does he have to get a new driver's license each time?  Now that pay phones are so rare, how does he call Judd Hirsch's character to pick him up?  These types of questions aren't taken very seriously by the show-- it's all just a gimmick.

The only way the immortality aspect has become important is in a developing storyline involving another immortal who's stalking the doctor.  We don't know much about this guy yet, but he certainly seems sinister!

So, as it is, I don't think it's a great show.  It doesn't take advantage of its premise except in the most superficial way, and that leaves it feeling like just another Sherlock Holmes knock-off.  But there is an interesting foundation for the show and I could see it becoming more interesting several episodes in.  If it lasts, I might check back mid-season.