The Bridge - Pilot - Preview

     When I was first offered the opportunity to review FX’s The Bridge I jumped at it. What could be better than Diane Kruger, serial killers, and a modernly relevant political issue? My thoughts after the screening are the same as in the beginning. This show must deliver… and it does.

     If you saw the previews of the show and thought, “What the ^&^$?” then you are not alone. The majority of the previews offer very little insight as to what the show’s premise is. This is part of what made the first episode so enjoyable. One of my pet peeves of TV and Movies is revealing too much in the trailers/promos. Though it is normally done more in comedy, rather than in dramas, it can still be a problem at times. This is certainly not an issue in The Bridge. The characters are all relatively new to viewers as a result of the limited info in previews. In this advance review, I will reveal only small amounts of info so that you can all have the same experience that I had while watching… just enough info to whet your appetite, but not enough to spoil it.
     The main premise of the show is a body that is found on the border between Mexico and the United States. Two detectives are assigned to the case. The main character of the show, Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) is one of these detectives. She is from El Paso, Texas (I can’t type this without thinking back to Hank in Breaking Bad) and is not your classic detective. Sonya has Asperger's Syndrome and is extremely socially awkward which makes her line of work very difficult. Diane Kruger does an excellent job of portraying Sonya and making her abhorrence of working with others very obvious. It is clear that Sonya is not a fan of most people. She likes to keep to herself and is very much an introvert. The other detective is from Mexico and is named Marco Ruiz. Marco (Demian Bichir) is a father, a husband, and a friend to many. He is the opposite of Sonya in every way possible. Marco and Sonya are at odds from very nearly the start of the show. It should be interesting to see how their relationship changes in the coming episodes and, FX giving, multiple seasons.
     Seemingly separated from the two main characters is Charlotte (Annabeth Gish). Charlotte’s husband is having a heart attack in a van on the border when the show starts. She is understandably anxious to get to a hospital in America. In the only interaction between the two, Sonya denies Charlotte passage across the bridge as she will drive through a crime scene. After the two cross the border (much to Sonya’s dismay) things start to get interesting. Charlotte’s husband was evidently in a dangerous business that spans across the two nations. The writers were very careful not to give too much away in the first episode. I expect to learn more about her husband in the second episode.
     Also separated from the main characters is the character of Steven (Thomas M. Wright). It is clear in the first few minutes of screen time that he is a very creepy person and a man of few words. Steven lives in an RV (again, Breaking Bad) with a sort of, ahem, companion. I can’t say a whole lot about Steven because we hardly know him, but he should be interesting to get to know.
     While I have written an extremely vague preview of the show I hope that everyone enjoys watching the show as much as I did. The show is well paced, well acted, and incredibly well written. I will be reviewing the next 2 episodes of The Bridge in the coming weeks here on SpoilerTV so let me know what you think of the episodes and my reviews.

Rating: 9.8/10

The Bridge premieres on Wednesday, July 10th at 10/9c. Be sure to tune in and come back here to SpoilerTV to let everyone else know what you thought.