Review by Lauryn Angel
It’s likely that all of us wish we had a second chance at certain experiences in our lives. We might have said or done something completely different, or turned left instead of right. Very rarely do we get the chance to set right something we’ve done in the past, but thanks to the questionable ethics of a scientist, 75-year-old Jimmy Pritchard, a disgraced former sheriff, gets a chance to redeem himself after he is murdered. Otto Goodwin (Adhir Kalyan), one half of the billionaire genius twins who run a media empire called Looking Glass, resurrects Pritchard in an effort to save his twin, Mary (Dilshad Vadsaria), from cancer. The now-young Pritchard (Robert Kazinsky), however, is not content to merely serve as a guinea pig and insists on solving crimes with his son, Duval (Tim DeKay), beginning with his own murder.
Second Chance is basically a police procedural, but with an interesting premise overlaid. The technological elements are reminiscent of the ill-fated Almost Human of two years ago. While Second Chance isn’t quite as good as Almost Human, which had a cast of seasoned actors, it definitely has the potential to grow into something great. Kazinsky is likeable as the returned Pritchard, and the writers make some smart decisions regarding the pacing of the family story arc. The setting of a near-distant future with advanced tech allow for some fun effects (and some that are just a little . . . odd), but what really makes the show are the characters, namely Jimmy Pritchard, who becomes more likeable with each episode, despite the fact that he’s not the ideal cop that his son strives to be.
The pilot of Second Chance is worth watching, but the show takes a couple of episodes to move beyond the clichés and really get interesting. By the fourth episode, I found myself invested not just in Jimmy Pritchard, but many of the supporting characters. Ideally, it will move beyond the crime-of-the-week format and develop into something with greater staying power.
Premieres Wednesday, January 13 on Fox.
