Fox Home Entertainment
Release date: July 10th, 2012
At first, I was pretty critical of THE GLADES. It was cutesy and felt, to me, lazy. I never really felt they took advantage of the exotic locale and the scripts were mediocre at best. On the upside, stars Matt Passmore and Kiele Sanchez did a solid job with what they had.
But for season two, the overall quality has improved. I think the writers realize they have something special in the form of Callie (Kiele Sanchez) and Jim (Matt Passmore). Callie is a single mom that is struggling between school, raising her son and making ends meet. She is a lovely, strong lady that is just barely keeping her head above water.
Set in Palm Glade, the show is about Jim Longworth, a cocky detective that, after a scandal in Chicago that resulted in him getting shot and receiving a big settlement, has relocated to the Florida town to relax, work on his golf game and solve the occasional crime. Jim initially comes across as a smug ass, but soon meets nurse Callie and is smitten.
And her presence makes Passmore’s Jim a little more unsure of himself, a little less cocky. That goes a long way towards humanizing him and making him less of an ass. Don’t get me wrong, cockiness is fine and good, but showing his softer side makes him easier to relate to. Yes, he loves her and wants to be with her, but he also likes both her and her son and wants to make her life a little easier. So instead just the basic story of building towards romance between the two principals, we get a genuine friendship. And that friendship makes the cliched dance around romance more tolerable. Almost every show on TV does this dance and it tired and, in some cases (CASTLE), damn irritating.
Season two, in addition to catching killers, finds Jim and Callie working to overcome the obstacles that keep them apart. Much of the season finds them simply getting to know one another. As I said, Jim does his best to lighten her load and clearly respects her and difficulties that fill her life.
Subtitles: Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French.
Extras: Commentary track is provided for the episode MOONLIGHTING. We get two featurettes that are standard fare (Jim Longworth”s Guide to Police Work, Love Triangles: Relationship Complexities and The Glades)and a gag reel as well as deleted and extended scenes.
With the improved writing and the growing chemistry between Passmore and Sanchez, THE GLADES has taken a large step up in quality. Fans of season one will have plenty of fun and those that fell by the wayside may want to take another look. Not complex weighty fare, THE GLADES offers charming, simple crime solving with likeable characters standing front and center.
Jeremy Lynch
