Seven Seconds

What starts out as a rather familiar story, almost like a blue-collar Bonfire of the Vanities, slowly develops into a rather compelling crime drama buoyed by some unique characterizations and good performances. Chief among these is Clare-Hope Ashitey as KJ, the barely-holding-it-together assistant district attorney; she's a real screw-up professionally and in her personal life. What's unique is that Seven Seconds refuses to immediately put her on the inevitable path to redemption. Ashitey finds real humanity in this character, balancing her flaws with humor and her bad decisions with unwavering tenacity. She also has great chemistry with Michael Mosley, who plays "Fish," the dog-loving detective who reluctantly teams up with KJ. Good-natured and unambitious, Fish jokingly calls KJ out on her drinking and is annoyed by her overly thorough tactics. They make an unlikely but believable pair. Watching their relationship move from ambivalence to mutual respect and maybe beyond makes Seven Seconds worth the time.

This series was created by Veena Sud, who created The Killing, a series that also featured a unique relationship between its two law enforcement leads. While that show went to preposterous lengths to ensure the audience couldn't predict the next plot twist, Seven Seconds appears more committed to exploring the interpersonal dynamics of its characters than to serving up new red herrings.