STARRING: Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Annabeth Gish, Ted Levine, Emily Rios, Eric Lange, Johnny Dowers, Carlos Pratts, Thomas M. Wright, Alma Martinez, Matthew Lillard.
CREATED BY: Elwood Reid, Meredith Steihm
Based on an incredibly popular Danish TV series, The Bridge is based on the premise that a dead body is dumped on a bridge in El Paso situated perfectly in the middle, so that half of her body is on the Mexico side, and half is on the American side. The body is actually two different girls, the bottom half is a hispanic teenager, and the top half is a white American judge, famous for ruling against Mexicans looking for work in El Paso.
This event brings together two cops. Sonya North (Diane Kruger) is a homicide detective with Aspergers who immediately tries to claim the case as her own. Then she realizes half of the girl is from Juarez, and decides to let Juarez cop Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir) assist her, even though she’d rather just do this on her own. As much as this is a show about a murder investigation, it’s also an excellent character look at Aspergers, especially in scenes where Sonya has to deliver bad news. She doesn’t just lack bedside manner in the way Gregory House did, she has no idea how she’s supposed to react in certain situations. She doesn’t feel the same emotions the way you do, so her reactions are different.
The show bridges off into supporting characters, but until future episodes are laid out, they’re all one note character pieces for right now. Ted Levine is a standout as Sonya’s boss, someone who understands Sonya’s special circumstance. Annabeth Gish’s character is featured prominently, but doesn’t seem to directly feature into the story… yet. Diane Kruger is really good in her part, and if people can remember her performance a year from now, she might be up for next years Emmy awards. Demian Bichir is actually quite excellent in his role too, but it’s tough to stand out when the other lead has been given such a strong role.
As far as the show goes, it’s a slow burn, and takes quite a while to get going. I’d actually argue that the pilot never really does get going, and the only reason to watch seems to be to see where Kruger and Bichir’s characters go, as well as where Gish’s character fits in. FX has been really good in the past at creating excellent dramas that pay off in the long run, so there’s another reason to sick with the show, at least for a few more episodes.
FINAL GRADE: B-
