| The premise of Smith is completely | | | | because they kicked him off their private |
| ridiculous: A family man (Ray Liotta) is | | | | beach, we identify with him. We don't agree |
| actually a master thief, who travels around | | | | with harshness of his reaction and would |
| the country pulling off grand heists. He has | | | | never consider doing what he did (I don't own |
| a team of specialists who assist him, and | | | | a sniper rifle, anyway) but we respect that |
| none are redeeming characters. So, we are | | | | he stood up for himself and would like to |
| supposed to root for a guy who deceives his | | | | believe that we'd stand for oursleves in the |
| wife and son, is a mercenary, and is a man | | | | same situation. Anti-heroes take reality and |
| who witnesses the death of a team member and | | | | accentuate to a degree that the layman will |
| walks away with no remorse? On paper, this | | | | never know. |
| all seems a tad unpleasant, doesn't it? Well, | | | | |
| somehow, it's not. With Smith, CBS has | | | | Smith is good only because it's characters |
| created one of the most entertaining and | | | | are the bad people they are. I've heard |
| gleefully evil shows televison has seen in a | | | | complaints that the characters on Smith are |
| long time. | | | | so totally unredeemable that they just can't |
| | | | watch Smith. Well, how would the show work if |
| Smith is a derivative of the type of cinema | | | | Ray Liotta played Bobby Stevens as a nice, |
| currently embodied by the works of Tarantino. | | | | warm-hearted, respectful, stand-up guy? It |
| Hardened anti-heroes who do bad things, yet | | | | would seem wildly improbable for a guy like |
| still remain in the viewer's good graces. | | | | that to be involved in the world of |
| Like characters on "The Sopranos", we would | | | | high-stakes robberies. Of course, this seems |
| not be friends with these people in real | | | | obvious, but it's a key issue to ponder over |
| life. We wouldn't like them and, in all | | | | when discussing the premise of any show. When |
| likelihood, we'd be scared of them. However, | | | | creating a TV show, you typically begin with |
| in the context of their own, specific | | | | the premise. I'm sure that was the genesis of |
| universe, we can root for them and become | | | | Smith. Creator Jon Wells probably thought, |
| caught up in their plight. Why? I don't think | | | | "Hmm, you know what'd be cool? If there was a |
| it's over-simplifying it to say that it's | | | | show where a team of thieves pulled off a |
| just entertaining. Smith focuses on Bobby | | | | different heist every week." From there, what |
| Steven's team pulling off high-stakes | | | | kind of a main character do you create? There |
| robberies. As long as these robberies are | | | | aren't a lot of options. Sticking to |
| exciting (which they have been so far) the | | | | take-no-prisoners bad ass is usually the best |
| viewers will be tuning in. | | | | choice. |
| | | | |
| Viewers can forgive a lot when it comes to | | | | Smith is still early in it's run and it could |
| their protagonists. People identify with | | | | easily drop off in quality as the season goes |
| flawed characters because they themselves are | | | | along. I hope not, because CBS has created a |
| flawed. When Simon Baker's character on Smith | | | | show that is fun, full of action and |
| mercilessly guns down two thugs, simply | | | | uncompromising in it's vision. |