DVD Reviews

Detroit 1-8-7: The Complete First Season – DVD Review

By Patrick Luce Sep 2, 2011, 14:02 GMT

What does it take to be a detective in one of America’s toughest cities? Follow one homicide unit as Detroit’s finest reveal the crisis and revelation, heartbreak and heroism that characterize these inner city cops in Season 1 of Detroit 1-8-7. Headed by Lieutenant Maureen Mason, a strong-willed single mom struggling to balance home and work, the team is made up of quite the firing squad. There’s the damaged but ...more

With tones of NYPD Blue and Hillstreet Blues, Detroit 1-8-7 instantly reminds of some of the great, gritty cop dramas from television’s past – which is probably why the series didn’t make it past one season before getting cancelled by ABC.

The series featured an incredible ensemble cast that was led by a quirky performance from Michael Imperioli (distancing himself from his mob character from The Sopranos). The series focused on a homicide squad from an inner Detroit precinct that is forced to deal with the deadly violent side of the Motor City on a daily basis.

The cast includes James McDaniel, Aisha Hinds, Jon Michael Hill, Shaun Majumder, Natalie Martinez, Erin Cummings, and D.J. Cotrona.

The series kicks off fast by introducing us to rookie homicide detective Detective Damon Washington (Hill) who has been teamed with Imperioli’s Detective Louis Fitch character. Fitch is a veteran homicide cop who came to Detroit after working as a cop for years in New York City. He is known for closing a case and breaking the bad guy, but also for his somewhat strange behavior (he prefers talking to someone on the phone rather than face to face even if they are right next to him).

The series introduces the veteran cops to the viewers through the eyes of Hill’s rookie detective. The rest of the squad includes retiring detective Sergeant Jesse Longford (McDaniel - channeling his NYPD Blue Lt. Fancy character) and his partner Detective Vikram Mahajan (Majumder). The two detectives have been partners for years and McDaniel’s character is counting the days until he can retire and move to Tuscany. So much so that he is driving his hound-dog partner insane with his Learn Italian tapes and rattling off the few phrases he has learned.

The squad also benefits from Natalie Martinez’s female Detective Ariana Sanchez  who becomes partners with undercover Narc cop Detective John Stone (Cotrona). Along with becoming homicide partners, the two quickly develop a romantic relationship – to Imperioli’s regret since his character also has feelings for her but can’t bring himself to tell her.

The squad is led by Lieutenant Maureen Mason – the always incredible Hinds who does an excellent job in the series being a strong female character, a single mother, and a cop driven by the letter of the law. She also constantly finds herself having to negotiate through troubled political waters from the fallout of Imperioli’s bulldog style of investigation.

The series waste no time in showing its street grit by focusing on murders of children, kidnappings, and gangland slayings. It also establishes that no character is safe as Hill’s rookie detective is shot in the season’s opening episode. This sets the tone that the show will not shy away from the violence of the streets or the reality that being a cop in Detroit isn’t the safest profession.

The season starts to feel a tad formulaic halfway through with the squad solving the “murders of the week,” but the ensemble cast keeps every plot interesting thanks to their interactions and their chemistry.

The series also benefits from several season long story arcs – such as Imperioli’s past in New York City and his ties to a gangster that might be making a play in Detroit and Cotrona’s undercover cop having a price on his head by the drug dealers he arrested.

Although it is very much an ensemble cast, Detroit 1-8-7 is Imperioli’s show and how much you enjoy it might depend on how much you like the actor and his quirky performance as Fitch. The actor carries the show on his capable shoulders and makes the character both funny and serious at the same time.

You can’t help but chuckle at some of his quirks, but you also have no doubt he is willing to bend the law or push a suspect into confessing. Just how far he will bend the law is put into question towards the end of the season as his past comes back to haunt him and his partner’s family are put in danger.

In the age of bad reality television shows, Detroit 1-8-7 was a gritty cop show that television badly needed so naturally was cancelled by the network right as it was getting good. The show has some flaws, but they were easily overcome by the incredible cast and the filming that made the music and look of its Detroit setting as important as the cast.

If you are a fan of the genre or the actors, Detroit 1-8-7 is well worth the time to watch. It just might leave you feeling like the victim of a crime when the final episode finishes with no hope for more.

Visit the DVD database for more information.