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p
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Since the end of The Rockford Files many decades ago, tv has lacked
great detective shows. While Magnum P.I. was very popular, it was never
a straight detective show given the fantasy elements and, as flamboyant
as Tom Selleck's performance as Magnum was, John Hillerman as Higgins
(and even Zeus and Apollo) stole scenes from him. That show ranged from comedy to drama to tragedy.
Thanks to the popularity of film noir and adaptations of novel series
written pre-film noir, detective shows were a staple of 1940s radio and
early television. They got quite violent by the 1ate 1960s, especially
Mannix and unexpectedly Harry O. Rockford was very different, starting
out telling quite a few film noir stories when Roy Huggins ran the show
first season, then de-emphasizing film noir plots for the rest of the
show. Rockford was known for its strong cast of supporting character,
Rocky, Angel, Beth, and Becker, some of the best writing we ever got on television, and especially those sublime car chases.
R.J. Decker might have filled a gap, but it just didn't. The stand-alone episodes were better and actually had elements from old television in
which the detective used sound reasoning to solve the mystery without an excess of BECAUSE PLOT.
The story arc never worked. This particularly hurt Emi (Jaina Lee
Ortiz), whose character was all over the place and largely there to
convey the plot elements (but not quite a Whitey character). However,
the actress's performance was strong; those scripts did her no favors.
I never expected Scott Speedman, of all actors, to pull off series lead. Hell, in the past, I've actively disliked his performances. Let me be complimentary here. He took the show seriously and won me over. I'd call
this a career best for him. The teasers for the series pissed me off
because Decker came off as smarmy but he wasn't at all on the actual episodes.
The weakest character was the ex-wife Catherine (Adelaide Clemens). If
you are going to have a bisexual female character, do something fun,
make her sexually adventurous. Instead, she was essentially mother
figure to Decker and utterly cardboard. She was completely monogamous, letting us conclude that the bisexuality was to fill in the "need" for
such characters on television. The actress is Australian, good job on
never dropping the accent.
In the recurring cast, David Zayas (Ochoa, Emi's father) created a
villain with little more than h8ghly theatrical makeup, failing to give
a strong performance. He never made me forget the genial Angel from
Dexter. We really never saw corruption, just alluded to without laying
it out in necessary backstory.
The final episode was especially weak, nearly entirely plot driven with
no one figuring anything out. There was no foundation for any of the
twists so they came out of nowhere. I was hoping that they'd finish the
story arc about Ochoa just to get rid of the character, but no such
luck.
I still have no idea what Decker took a picture of that caused trouble
for Ochoa.
Yet another show with a short season, just 9 episodes including the
pilot. If another season is ordered, I hope the writing is stronger.
Despite being set in Ft. Lauderdale, we only got a few locations shot
there for the pilot. The pilot and the rest of first season were largely
shot in Wilmington.
On 2026-04-29 6:34 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
p
a
c
e
Since the end of The Rockford Files many decades ago, tv has lacked
great detective shows. While Magnum P.I. was very popular, it was never
a straight detective show given the fantasy elements and, as flamboyant
as Tom Selleck's performance as Magnum was, John Hillerman as Higgins
(and even Zeus and Apollo) stole scenes from him. That show ranged from
comedy to drama to tragedy.
Thanks to the popularity of film noir and adaptations of novel series
written pre-film noir, detective shows were a staple of 1940s radio and
early television. They got quite violent by the 1ate 1960s, especially
Mannix and unexpectedly Harry O. Rockford was very different, starting
out telling quite a few film noir stories when Roy Huggins ran the show
first season, then de-emphasizing film noir plots for the rest of the
show. Rockford was known for its strong cast of supporting character,
Rocky, Angel, Beth, and Becker, some of the best writing we ever got on
television, and especially those sublime car chases.
R.J. Decker might have filled a gap, but it just didn't. The stand-alone
episodes were better and actually had elements from old television in
which the detective used sound reasoning to solve the mystery without an
excess of BECAUSE PLOT.
The story arc never worked. This particularly hurt Emi (Jaina Lee
Ortiz), whose character was all over the place and largely there to
convey the plot elements (but not quite a Whitey character). However,
the actress's performance was strong; those scripts did her no favors.
I never expected Scott Speedman, of all actors, to pull off series lead.
Hell, in the past, I've actively disliked his performances. Let me be
complimentary here. He took the show seriously and won me over. I'd call
this a career best for him. The teasers for the series pissed me off
because Decker came off as smarmy but he wasn't at all on the actual
episodes.
The weakest character was the ex-wife Catherine (Adelaide Clemens). If
you are going to have a bisexual female character, do something fun,
make her sexually adventurous. Instead, she was essentially mother
figure to Decker and utterly cardboard. She was completely monogamous,
letting us conclude that the bisexuality was to fill in the "need" for
such characters on television. The actress is Australian, good job on
never dropping the accent.
In the recurring cast, David Zayas (Ochoa, Emi's father) created a
villain with little more than h8ghly theatrical makeup, failing to give
a strong performance. He never made me forget the genial Angel from
Dexter. We really never saw corruption, just alluded to without laying
it out in necessary backstory.
The final episode was especially weak, nearly entirely plot driven with
no one figuring anything out. There was no foundation for any of the
twists so they came out of nowhere. I was hoping that they'd finish the
story arc about Ochoa just to get rid of the character, but no such
luck.
I still have no idea what Decker took a picture of that caused trouble
for Ochoa.
Yet another show with a short season, just 9 episodes including the
pilot. If another season is ordered, I hope the writing is stronger.
Despite being set in Ft. Lauderdale, we only got a few locations shot
there for the pilot. The pilot and the rest of first season were largely
shot in Wilmington.
Are you sure it's over? Epguides.com shows only 9 episodes (as of
yesterday) but it says 13 episodes at the top of the page.
Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
On 2026-04-29 6:34 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
p
a
c
e
Since the end of The Rockford Files many decades ago, tv has lacked
great detective shows. While Magnum P.I. was very popular, it was never
a straight detective show given the fantasy elements and, as flamboyant
as Tom Selleck's performance as Magnum was, John Hillerman as Higgins
(and even Zeus and Apollo) stole scenes from him. That show ranged from
comedy to drama to tragedy.
Thanks to the popularity of film noir and adaptations of novel series
written pre-film noir, detective shows were a staple of 1940s radio and
early television. They got quite violent by the 1ate 1960s, especially
Mannix and unexpectedly Harry O. Rockford was very different, starting
out telling quite a few film noir stories when Roy Huggins ran the show
first season, then de-emphasizing film noir plots for the rest of the
show. Rockford was known for its strong cast of supporting character,
Rocky, Angel, Beth, and Becker, some of the best writing we ever got on
television, and especially those sublime car chases.
R.J. Decker might have filled a gap, but it just didn't. The stand-alone >>> episodes were better and actually had elements from old television in
which the detective used sound reasoning to solve the mystery without an >>> excess of BECAUSE PLOT.
The story arc never worked. This particularly hurt Emi (Jaina Lee
Ortiz), whose character was all over the place and largely there to
convey the plot elements (but not quite a Whitey character). However,
the actress's performance was strong; those scripts did her no favors.
I never expected Scott Speedman, of all actors, to pull off series lead. >>> Hell, in the past, I've actively disliked his performances. Let me be
complimentary here. He took the show seriously and won me over. I'd call >>> this a career best for him. The teasers for the series pissed me off
because Decker came off as smarmy but he wasn't at all on the actual
episodes.
The weakest character was the ex-wife Catherine (Adelaide Clemens). If
you are going to have a bisexual female character, do something fun,
make her sexually adventurous. Instead, she was essentially mother
figure to Decker and utterly cardboard. She was completely monogamous,
letting us conclude that the bisexuality was to fill in the "need" for
such characters on television. The actress is Australian, good job on
never dropping the accent.
In the recurring cast, David Zayas (Ochoa, Emi's father) created a
villain with little more than h8ghly theatrical makeup, failing to give
a strong performance. He never made me forget the genial Angel from
Dexter. We really never saw corruption, just alluded to without laying
it out in necessary backstory.
The final episode was especially weak, nearly entirely plot driven with
no one figuring anything out. There was no foundation for any of the
twists so they came out of nowhere. I was hoping that they'd finish the
story arc about Ochoa just to get rid of the character, but no such
luck.
I still have no idea what Decker took a picture of that caused trouble
for Ochoa.
Yet another show with a short season, just 9 episodes including the
pilot. If another season is ordered, I hope the writing is stronger.
Despite being set in Ft. Lauderdale, we only got a few locations shot
there for the pilot. The pilot and the rest of first season were largely >>> shot in Wilmington.
Are you sure it's over? Epguides.com shows only 9 episodes (as of
yesterday) but it says 13 episodes at the top of the page.
The network announced it was the finale. I don't see 13 episodes.
https://epguides.com/RJDecker/
Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
On 2026-04-29 6:34 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
p
a
c
e
Since the end of The Rockford Files many decades ago, tv has lacked
great detective shows. While Magnum P.I. was very popular, it was never
a straight detective show given the fantasy elements and, as flamboyant
as Tom Selleck's performance as Magnum was, John Hillerman as Higgins
(and even Zeus and Apollo) stole scenes from him. That show ranged from
comedy to drama to tragedy.
Thanks to the popularity of film noir and adaptations of novel series
written pre-film noir, detective shows were a staple of 1940s radio and
early television. They got quite violent by the 1ate 1960s, especially
Mannix and unexpectedly Harry O. Rockford was very different, starting
out telling quite a few film noir stories when Roy Huggins ran the show
first season, then de-emphasizing film noir plots for the rest of the
show. Rockford was known for its strong cast of supporting character,
Rocky, Angel, Beth, and Becker, some of the best writing we ever got on
television, and especially those sublime car chases.
R.J. Decker might have filled a gap, but it just didn't. The stand-alone >>> episodes were better and actually had elements from old television in
which the detective used sound reasoning to solve the mystery without an >>> excess of BECAUSE PLOT.
The story arc never worked. This particularly hurt Emi (Jaina Lee
Ortiz), whose character was all over the place and largely there to
convey the plot elements (but not quite a Whitey character). However,
the actress's performance was strong; those scripts did her no favors.
I never expected Scott Speedman, of all actors, to pull off series lead. >>> Hell, in the past, I've actively disliked his performances. Let me be
complimentary here. He took the show seriously and won me over. I'd call >>> this a career best for him. The teasers for the series pissed me off
because Decker came off as smarmy but he wasn't at all on the actual
episodes.
The weakest character was the ex-wife Catherine (Adelaide Clemens). If
you are going to have a bisexual female character, do something fun,
make her sexually adventurous. Instead, she was essentially mother
figure to Decker and utterly cardboard. She was completely monogamous,
letting us conclude that the bisexuality was to fill in the "need" for
such characters on television. The actress is Australian, good job on
never dropping the accent.
In the recurring cast, David Zayas (Ochoa, Emi's father) created a
villain with little more than h8ghly theatrical makeup, failing to give
a strong performance. He never made me forget the genial Angel from
Dexter. We really never saw corruption, just alluded to without laying
it out in necessary backstory.
The final episode was especially weak, nearly entirely plot driven with
no one figuring anything out. There was no foundation for any of the
twists so they came out of nowhere. I was hoping that they'd finish the
story arc about Ochoa just to get rid of the character, but no such
luck.
I still have no idea what Decker took a picture of that caused trouble
for Ochoa.
Yet another show with a short season, just 9 episodes including the
pilot. If another season is ordered, I hope the writing is stronger.
Despite being set in Ft. Lauderdale, we only got a few locations shot
there for the pilot. The pilot and the rest of first season were largely >>> shot in Wilmington.
Are you sure it's over? Epguides.com shows only 9 episodes (as of
yesterday) but it says 13 episodes at the top of the page.
The network announced it was the finale. I don't see 13 episodes.
https://epguides.com/RJDecker/
On 2026-04-29 11:35 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Rhino˙ <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
On 2026-04-29 6:34 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
p
a
c
e
Since the end of The Rockford Files many decades ago, tv has lacked
great detective shows. While Magnum P.I. was very popular, it was never >>>> a straight detective show given the fantasy elements and, as flamboyant >>>> as Tom Selleck's performance as Magnum was, John Hillerman as Higgins
(and even Zeus and Apollo) stole scenes from him. That show ranged from >>>> comedy to drama to tragedy.
Thanks to the popularity of film noir and adaptations of novel series
written pre-film noir, detective shows were a staple of 1940s radio and >>>> early television. They got quite violent by the 1ate 1960s, especially >>>> Mannix and unexpectedly Harry O. Rockford was very different, starting >>>> out telling quite a few film noir stories when Roy Huggins ran the show >>>> first season, then de-emphasizing film noir plots for the rest of the
show. Rockford was known for its strong cast of supporting character,
Rocky, Angel, Beth, and Becker, some of the best writing we ever got on >>>> television, and especially those sublime car chases.
R.J. Decker might have filled a gap, but it just didn't. The stand-
alone
episodes were better and actually had elements from old television in
which the detective used sound reasoning to solve the mystery
without an
excess of BECAUSE PLOT.
The story arc never worked. This particularly hurt Emi (Jaina Lee
Ortiz), whose character was all over the place and largely there to
convey the plot elements (but not quite a Whitey character). However,
the actress's performance was strong; those scripts did her no favors. >>>>
I never expected Scott Speedman, of all actors, to pull off series
lead.
Hell, in the past, I've actively disliked his performances. Let me be
complimentary here. He took the show seriously and won me over. I'd
call
this a career best for him. The teasers for the series pissed me off
because Decker came off as smarmy but he wasn't at all on the actual
episodes.
The weakest character was the ex-wife Catherine (Adelaide Clemens). If >>>> you are going to have a bisexual female character, do something fun,
make her sexually adventurous. Instead, she was essentially mother
figure to Decker and utterly cardboard. She was completely monogamous, >>>> letting us conclude that the bisexuality was to fill in the "need" for >>>> such characters on television. The actress is Australian, good job on
never dropping the accent.
In the recurring cast, David Zayas (Ochoa, Emi's father) created a
villain with little more than h8ghly theatrical makeup, failing to give >>>> a strong performance. He never made me forget the genial Angel from
Dexter. We really never saw corruption, just alluded to without laying >>>> it out in necessary backstory.
The final episode was especially weak, nearly entirely plot driven with >>>> no one figuring anything out. There was no foundation for any of the
twists so they came out of nowhere. I was hoping that they'd finish the >>>> story arc about Ochoa just to get rid of the character, but no such
luck.
I still have no idea what Decker took a picture of that caused trouble >>>> for Ochoa.
Yet another show with a short season, just 9 episodes including the
pilot. If another season is ordered, I hope the writing is stronger.
Despite being set in Ft. Lauderdale, we only got a few locations shot
there for the pilot. The pilot and the rest of first season were
largely
shot in Wilmington.
Are you sure it's over? Epguides.com shows only 9 episodes (as of
yesterday) but it says 13 episodes at the top of the page.
The network announced it was the finale. I don't see 13 episodes.
https://epguides.com/RJDecker/
Epguides is down right now - it was down yesterday too for a bit - but
it definitely said something like "Episodes: 13" near the top right. But
I'm sure they get things wrong sometimes.
If the network described it as a finale, it probably was the end.
Perhaps they filmed 13 episodes but ratings were so weak they decided
not to show the last 4. Or more likely, since the last episode *did*
seem to resolve certain aspects of the story, they dropped some of the middle episodes so that the run wouldn't end on a cliffhanger.
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