Take Two Is A Ton Of Fun To Watch.

It works. It really works!

All that way back in 2009, Andrew W. Marlowe put a new spin on the police procedural with the premiere of Castle. That show’s eight seasons have their ups and downs, but it is not patently offensive because of the writing quality or subject matter. In fact, it currently stands one of the few “detective meets other person” shows that is reasonably entertaining.

So naturally, I was intrigued when I learned that Marlowe and his wife, Terri Miller, were returning to ABC with Take Two. It’s somewhat similar to their previous effort in terms of structure, but I’m pleased to report that it’s a far better show in many respects.

Let’s dive on in and see why!

The Performances Are Great.

Eddie Cibrian and Rachel Bilson are quite good at mixing action and comedy.

At first glance, I was perplexed by the casting choices of Eddie Cibrian and Rachel Bilson because they are better known for their work on hard dramas and soap operas, respectively. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of effort that they put into Eddie Valetik and Sam Swift. They fit into their roles like a glove, ooze chemistry, and give the audience a fairly believable take on a private eye and a struggling actress.

And to top it all off, some of their little character moments are gut-bustingly funny!

By contrast, the supporting cast needs a little more time to develop, but one could have said the same thing about Detectives Esposito and Ryan at their equivalent point in Castle. Aaliyah O’Brien does a good job as Detective Christine Rollins, but the only things that we really know about her is that she’s in a semi-casual relationship with Eddie and can kick a lot of ass. On the other hand, Monica (Alice Lee) and Roberto (Xavier de Guzman) need a little more flair. While they both contribute to the story in their own way, their characterization has to move beyond the pseudo-stereotype of the socially awkward millennial.

With that said, Marlowe and Miller are very good at delivering a reasonable sense of balance. Trust them.

The Story Is Much Lighter Than Usual.

This scene makes a lot of sense in context.

The plot of Take Two may be similar to Castle and other detective shows, but there are enough unique twists to make it worth your time. For example, the writing staff has found a way to incorporate each character’s abilities into a case in a compelling way. Since Sam is an actress, she can turn disguises, words, and hairspray into weapons. On the other side of the equation, Eddie is the straight man who uses elbow grease, guns, and unsavory contacts to solve the case.

And best of all, it’s not a horribly depressing nightmare like a lot of other shows. Sure, there are references to infidelity, murder, corruption, and other things like that, but I think that viewers will come away from most episodes with a sense of hope or a smile on their face. And in this age of anger and fruitless political division, we need that kind of unifying escapism more than ever before.

What To Avoid.

Let’s face it. We all know that a romance is on the way.

Any sort of criticism that I might level at Take Two can be written off as minimal at this point. Instead, I’d like to point out some of the traps that the creators should avoid, especially if they try to ship Sam and Eddie.

One of the most eye-rolling aspects of Castle came from how the writers constantly split up the two leads and conveniently put them back together again. While it may be fun to do that once, the repetition culminated in a ridiculous Season 4 finale that would have killed any normal relationship…

…but that’s okay because Beckett threw herself at Castle and they had sex, am I right?!

On another note, the writers need to avoid the temptation of doing an “As you know…” segment unless they want to make fun of it. This type of scene hasn’t been used yet in the show and happened quite rarely in Castle, but it can be silly when a character that should know something doesn’t for the sake of the audience. To give you one example, Detective Beckett doesn’t seem to know what selenium is in an episode of Castle, even though she almost certainly took chemistry at some point in her life.

It may seem like a tiny detail, but little details can make or break a story. Just ask the staff of The Last Jedi.

Conclusion.

You could do a hell of a lot worse than this show.

Take Two might not win many awards, but it’s a quality show that is more than worth your time. The performances are excellent, the stories are a lot of fun, and there are satisfying twists to an old formula. If the writers can avoid the pitfalls of Castle and the genre at large, we may have a classic on our hands.

One can certainly hope.