Eyewitness - Pilot - Advance Preview

The new USA Network series “Eyewitness” has a lot in common with other recent cable crime dramas like “The Killing,” “The Bridge,” and “The Night Of.” It is based on a European series (in this case, a Norwegian show called “Øyevitne”) and is designed to follow one case through the whole season. There’s a driven detective, a languid pace, and cinematography littered with moody scenery and weather. But watching the pilot, what seemed different to me about “Eyewitness” is that it’s less about who committed the crime and more about the problems the crime’s existence creates for others.

When we first meet Helen Torrance (Julianne Nicholson, who I remember best from her role on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), it’s clear she’s in a period of transition and adjustment. A former big-city cop, Helen’s now the sheriff of a sleepy town in upstate New York and she’s frustrated by the slower speed. She and her husband Gabe (Gil Bellows, “Ascension”) have also just become foster parents to Philip (Tyler Young, “Chicago Fire”), a teenage boy from a troubled background, and she’s striving to be the best mother figure she can be. So both her roles are impacted when she’s alerted to a strange crime. Three bodies have been found in a secluded cabin, the town’s first-ever homicides.

When Helen doesn’t know is that Philip is a crucial eyewitness. He had been at the cabin, sharing a charged moment with his sexually confused classmate Lukas (James Paxton, “Texas Rising”), and both of them saw the murders happen from their hiding spots. Driven by a variety of fears, the boys agree not to say anything about what they witnessed, but don’t realize that they’re still in danger.

I liked a lot of the performances in the pilot, particularly Nicholson’s and Young’s. And while it’s kinda weird how relatively blasé Philip and Lukas are about the bloodshed they saw, these characters grappling with this secret atop their sexual confusion and push-pull feelings for each other is an interesting prism for this crime story. I also dug what the show did with Helen’s deputy Tony (Matt Murray, “Rookie Blue”), who at first seems to be a small-town dope, but turns out to be an insightful investigator in his own right. On the flipside, there’s a subplot involving an FBI agent with her own covert connection to the case that I’m not as into. Nor was I that intrigued by hints of A Case She Can’t Let Go Of from Helen’s past.

You can lay your eyes on “Eyewitness” this Sunday on USA Network. Until then, come share your early thoughts on the show in the comments section.