Patrick Swayze's The Beast Review

I had a chance to get an early look at the first two episodes of The Beast which will be airing on A&E this Jan 10th at 10pm on of course.. A&E. In “The Beast,” an unorthodox but effective FBI veteran (Patrick Swayze) trains a new partner (Travis Fimmel) in his hard-edged and psychologically clever style of agenting while himself being pursued by a secret Internal Affairs team.  The mischievous veteran hazes his new partner as they work undercover, brilliantly manipulating situations, constantly testing his new partner and pushing him to delve deeper into his "roles." 

As he realizes he can no longer maintain normal relationships and still do his job, the rookie is confronted with yet another challenge: An FBI team trying to enlist him as a double-agent in the bureau's investigation of his partner.

A&E is really one of my favorite networks on TV. They have a nice mix of reality programs and they are starting to get some really good drama and crime thrillers as well. The Beast is similar in many aspects to THE SHIELD in its elements but is much higher brow. The acting is better the writing is more crisp and the storyline is not transparent. You dont really know what is going on, who is crooked, who is not but you definitely find yourself wanting to know more.

The Beast has the potential to really become a hit show for A&E if it can continue to build the drama that the first two episodes do and also expose just enough to the watcher to keep you hooked as to who is the good guy and who really is the bad guy. I will however admit that the series at this point is definitely missing something. Some special magic or dynamic that I can not put my finger on. There is a certain level of distance in the characters and at times I have a hard time finding myself believing them as cops and more importantly getting emotionally involved with the characters. As much as I thought the show has some promise I do feel their needs to be a character connection established with the audience and hopefully with time that will really happen.

Overall I was very impressed with episodes 1 and 2 and really think that if you enjoy The Shield you should check it out and at the very least give it a shot. I do however feel if they do not do more work on the characters and fleshing them out this potential hit could quickly tank.