'Guardian' episode makes fitting farewell

Nick Fallin (Simon Baker) kisses his newborn daughter, Anne, on the season finale of "The Guardian."


From:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:May 04, 2004
By Rob Owen

If tonight's season finale proves to be the series finale for "The Guardian" (9 p.m., CBS), it's a satisfying conclusion.

Not everything is smiles and rainbows, but for a series as consistently dark as "The Guardian," the episode is pretty darn upbeat, leaving most but not all of its characters entering positive new phases of their lives.

The hour, directed by series creator David Hollander and titled "Antarctica," is not the best episode of the series -- actually, I think I liked the propulsive drama in last week's show more -- but it features many sweeps month staples (birth, potential death, major life changes) without leaving viewers with a mega-cliffhanger that may never be resolved (CBS will announce the show's fate in two weeks).

Some will no doubt debate whether or not selfish Nick Fallin (Simon Baker) would truly end up on the path he takes -- and if the show returns, I suspect he may jump off that path pretty fast -- but there's been enough growth in the character that his choice doesn't stretch credulity too much. And the ending montage, set to the song "Dead Melodies" by Beck from his "Mutations" album, features two brief scenes filmed in Pittsburgh on a sunny day last month. (I'm convinced that if Pittsburgh's weather were as sunny as it is whenever "The Guardian" crew is in town to film, the city could actually stand a chance of becoming Hollywood East.)

Critics continually sing the praises of "The Sopranos," calling it "psychologically rich" and "emotionally provocative." That's an apt description of "The Guardian," too, but few critics ever write about this show. Honestly, if not for the Pittsburgh connection, I probably wouldn't have watched beyond the flawed pilot myself. TV critics simply don't have time to keep tabs on every series. Conscientious critics will give a TV program more of a chance than a single episode, and contrary to popular opinion, we're not monolithic in our thinking. But for whatever reason, my critical peers wrote off "The Guardian" around the time of its premiere, classifying it as another older-skewing CBS show along the lines of "The District," "Family Law" and "Hack."

What they missed by skipping "The Guardian" was a series featuring a lead character who's the antithesis of the archetypal TV hero. Nick Fallin wasn't even a morally ambiguous character in the mold of thuggish Tony Soprano or Vic Mackey. Nick is not prone to throwing a punch, except on rare occasions, but he's far more vulnerable to even the tiniest slights. He's a damaged character with an extreme lack of self-awareness, stunted social skills and a really bad case of emotional constipation. He is both fascinating and frustrating to watch.

But it took time in the show's early days to really get a feel for Nick's character, and by the time that was established, most critics had checked out. But the series improved as Hollander, who was new to writing episodic television, learned how to better utilize the supporting characters and build ongoing story arcs. Then I was happy to sing its praises, not because it was the hometown show, but because "The Guardian" evolved into a quality series.

The show had its ups and downs, which will happen when a show runner takes the flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants path to plotting as opposed to the plan-it-out-a-season-at-a-time approach. Characters were introduced and then disappeared without explanation, a frustrating exercise for loyal viewers. But just about every time I thought Hollander had painted himself into an unsatisfying corner, he surprised me with an unexpected resolution, the kind that only comes out of allowing for natural spontaneity in the creative process. For anyone who watches copious amounts of television, surprise twists are the rarest of TV gifts.


From Pittsburgh Post gazette