A look at DARK BLUE.

DARK BLUE takes place in the underbelly of Los Angeles, where criminals roam free under the veil of night or hide in the shadows of daylight. Wandering in and out of this seedy underworld is just another day at the office for Lt. Carter Shaw (McDermott) and his special undercover task force. They understand, better than anyone, that to bring down a criminal underworld one must first dive into its depths and get on the criminals’ level.

Carter’s team includes Ty Curtis (Hardwick), a recently married cop who struggles with juggling his real life and the relationships he has developed while undercover; Dean Bendis (Marshall-Green), a shoot-from-the-hip officer whose activities make fellow team members wonder if he has gone over to the other side; and Jaimie Allen (Aycox), a green patrol cop brought in because of her excellent skill in lying, especially when it comes to her own past.

As Carter and his team know all too well, being an undercover cop sometimes requires cutting ties – albeit temporarily – with those who mean the most. Adrift and isolated, an undercover officer is frequently faced with circumstances that strain the line between right and wrong. When such a thing happens, all that matters is loyalty to one’s fellow officers and to the goal of bringing down the bad guys.

Here is the whos who of DARK BLUE:

Carter Shaw (Dylan McDermott) is a tough, street-wise cop whose relentless pursuit of LA’s worst criminals has cost him a marriage and any semblance of a personal life. Having worked everything from homicide to vice, Carter has lived in the city’s dark underworld long enough to know that to fight crime you have to almost be more criminal than cop, an attitude that makes him a pariah on the force and a harsh taskmaster to the crack team of undercover cops he now runs. This is a 24/7 job for Carter and, because he has no family or social connections to distract him, he sometimes expects his team to act as if they too have no family, friends or social life. Running this group of undercover cops constantly challenges Carter to strike a balance between results and risk, unspoken compassion for his team and the dangerous line they cross each time they go under. Though it seems Carter’s willing to sacrifice their lives to catch the bad guys, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to protect them.

Ty Curtis (Omari Hardwick) is a gifted undercover cop but, now that he is married to a beautiful and loving wife, Melissa, there are some concerns as to whether his heart is truly in the game. Ty tells Melissa his current stint with Carter’s team is nothing more than a stepping stone to something bigger and better, possibly even his own police command. Ty’s devotion to Melissa could eventually become a liability, especially given the number of acquaintances – and even past romances – he has forged in the underworld of Los Angeles.

Dean Bendis (Logan Marshall-Green) is the gun-slinger in the group, a seat-of-your-pants, fearless loose-cannon who gives 110 percent to every assignment he takes. He is very quick on his feet, able to thin-slice a problem in a split second and determine a fresh course of action. Dean knows how to circumvent departmental policies in order to achieve the desired result in a case. But more importantly, he knows how to get around Carter. Dean’s shoot-from-the-hip attitude is what makes him so effective undercover, but it also makes him the wild card of the team.

Jaimie Allen (Nicki Aycox) is the greenest member of the team. She has been chosen not because of her honesty, but rather because she successfully fabricated her entire past on her police application, a skill that would be very useful for an undercover cop. She keeps her true history private, indicating something shady or emotionally scarring lurks in her past. Having just joined the team, she is still developing her ability to think and act on the fly, but she’s driven to succeed because this job may be penance for whoever she was before joining Carter’s unit.

I should have a post tomorrow with my thoughts on the pilot. DARK BLUE airs at 10pm EST.