King & Maxwell Season 1 Recap: It’s Good To Be The King (and Maxwell)

Okay, so I originally blogged about the first couple of episodes of the new TNT original series King and Maxwell here.  And I just recently got caught up with the full (all be it short) first season.  Or is it half-season?  I can never tell with these dang alternative scheduling shows.  TNT and USA seem to like to break up their original series so that the first season starts in the summer then plays out again in the fall when other network shows are on hiatus, so this could actually just be the first half of season one.  But regardless, I watched, like, 8 episodes of the dang show.

King & Maxwell is based on the books by author David Baldacci about two disgraced former Secret Service agents who team up together to be private investigators and solve crimes.  And though the pilot episode left me with some doubt as to whether this show would actually be any good or not, I am happy to say TNT has yet another winner of an original series on their hands.  At least, in my humble opinion.  The fact is, King and Maxwell is AWESOME, and now I kinda wanna read the books its based on too.

Why is this show awesome, you ask?

Three reasons… the first of which is Jon Tenny, who is a pleasure to watch.  Seriously, this guy carries the show with an almost Clooney-esque sense of style and grace.  I liked him a lot on The Closer, but he never really shined on that show like he does here.  He comes off as funny, charming, smart, resourceful, and a guy with a big heart – however, he can also pull off the tortured soul and the driven bad-ass when he needs to.  He gives the character of Sean King some real depth and charm, and he’s a whole lotta fun to watch.  Though Rebecca Romijn is more fun to look at, her acting chops aren’t anywhere near up to Jon’s.  However, he does a good job of elevating her character when they’re on screen together.

The second reason is the supporting cast.  The show’s producers have done an excellent job of populating this show with a cast of characters who are all unique and interesting to watch.  Ryan Hurst as the autistic savant Edgar Roy is a favorite of mine.  He kinda was a surprise stand-out in the pilot, and I loved that they brought him back as a regular to be the King & Maxwell super-secretary.  He’s like Rainman crossed with Thor, and spews all kinds of awesomeness whenever he’s on.  By the end of the season, every time Edgar would say “Hot Damn” I’d do a fist pump for great justice.  Another wonderful supporting character is the grumpy, by-the-book FBI agent Frank Rigby played by the appropriately dour Michael O’Keefe.  He’s a good antagonist/sometimes ally of the private eye duo, and I always chuckle with the sheer disgust with which he displays whenever he’s forced to deal with King & Maxwell.  But beyond just being a pain in the butt for our heroes, he actually displays some amazing depth, where we get to see glimpses of a guy who begrudgingly respects our heroes, despite his best efforts not to.  To a lesser degree, there’s also the character of Benny, the street-smart ex-con forger chick played by Dichen Lachman of Dollhouse fame.  I’m not a fan of Lachman in general, and she doesn’t really seem suited for the role she’d been given, but her character kinda won me over with how she interacts with Edgar.

The third reason this show is awesome is the writing.  Seriously, I’m surprised at how good the writing is for this show.  The character work is really top notch stuff, and the over-all political assassination conspiracy story arc was well done, but beyond that – the “mystery of the week” plots are handled EXTREMELY well.  They’re all pretty original, and the twists-and-turns the characters encounter are, by and large, surprising and enjoyable.  I also like the backdrop of Washington D.C. and how the King & Maxwell cases often intersect with the powerful and political elite.  I’m never bored watching this show, and that really says something, because I can be a pretty harsh critic when it comes to TV.  But the writers of this show not only know how to handle intrigue and mystery, they also know how to make each character (including the bad guys) smart, which is a big change from what you see on most network TV shows where the characters are all dumber than the viewers and I can figure out pretty much any plot twist in the first 10 minutes of the episode.

King & Maxwell are extremely smart characters, and they are constantly overcoming obstacles in a way that is believable and entertaining.  That, and their banter works extremely well.  I also like the fact that though the two of them are partners, there is still some romantic tension there that I actually believe is real.  In the pilot, they made it clear that Sean King knows Maxwell is a dang supermodel, and he’s not above a naughty peek at her girlie-bits here an there.  They also had a running gag throughout the season where Maxwell would tease King by randomly sharing the names of public places she’d had sex in with him, leaving King to try and imagine what that must have been like.  But finally, in the season finale, we get the sense that though King has some romantic interest in Maxwell, Maxwell might actually have some for King too.  It’s a real Mulder/Scully type sexual tension thing, and it’s wonderful.  I just wish Rebecca Romijn was a bit of a better actress.

Anyway, if you guys are looking for a fun, smart, off-the-beaten-path crime dramedy, King & Maxwell is definitely a good show to check out.  I know I’ll totally be back for season 2!  (Srsly, got my DVR already set for it as well!)

King & Maxwell Season 1:  A Hearty Chuck Norris Thumbs Up!