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TV Review: Starz' 'Boss'

Kelsey Grammer is the hook, but the new Starz drama may have more to offer

By Daniel Fienberg Friday, Oct 21, 2011 9:57 PM

  • Critic's Rating B+
  • Readers' Rating A
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<p>Kelsey Grammer of "Boss"</p> <div id="myEventWatcherDiv" style="display:none;"> </div>

Kelsey Grammer of "Boss"

Credit: Starz
Episodes of the new Starz drama "Boss" open with Robert Plant's version of the traditional gospel standard "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down."
 
In all of its incarnations (I'm partial to the Uncle Tupelo cover), "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down" is a pretty simple song and the core lyrics boil down to basically what you see in the title. 
 
I'm suspecting that it's no coincidence that whenever I hear "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down," my mind immediately goes to Tom Waits' "Way Down in the Hole," which has a similar message about the allure and power of Beelzebub and the saving capacity of [Christian] faith.
 
The magnetic power of our baser instincts and the way those baser instincts run through the broader institutions of the American City were central to David Simon's exquisitely woven "Wire" tapestry and they're not far removed from what Farhad Safinia is tackling in "Boss."
 
In "The Wire," The Devil was in the institutions, the forces the prevented even the best of individual instincts and aspirations from breaking through the complacency of the system. While Simon had pockets of hope -- sometimes wide swathes of hope -- he was ultimately profoundly pessimistic. Good cops. Good teachers. Good union organizers. Good politicians. Good journalists. They all fought to keep The Devil way down in the hole, but Old Scratch kept getting out a wreaking havoc. "The Wire" was about the way an American city functions, but doesn't work.
 
Having seen two episodes of "Boss," I can't instantly tell you Safinia's world-view. I know he's nowhere near as overtly political as Simon and, in turn, I also suspect he's nowhere near as pessimistic as Simon. The series may be about the fall of a Great Man, but I don't know if Safinia wants us to view Kelsey Grammer's Tom Kane, longtime mayor of Chicago, as the symbolic "Satan" referred to in the opening song. It's entirely plausible that the political system in Chicago, long entrenched and long variably corrupt, is meant as Satan. But through two episodes, I don't know if Safinia is wanting viewers to root for Kane and/or the system to collapse, or if he's showing a landscape in which the evil that men do is capable of leading to a collective good for the community.
 
I sense that the opening songs are meant to tie "Boss" and "The Wire" together in some sort of collective meditation on the evil inherent in the urban space. Although I don't feel like "Boss" is anywhere near that "Wire" level of discourse -- literally nothing else in the history of the small screen is -- I admire its willingness to dive into the sort of terrain that TV ought to be well-suited to explore, but so rarely does. I can't even say that "Boss" is on the same level as Shawn Ryan's "The Chicago Code," which used the police as a pivot for delving into all aspects of the Windy City, but "Boss" is what's on TV right now and if it lives up to even some of its ample potential, it could become a series of some substance. That's a rare thing and one worthy of investing in.
 
More after the break...
 
As I mentioned earlier, "Boss" is about Mayor Tom Kane, a man who believes that the people want to be led and that sometimes they have to be led with an iron fist. But a city with as many racial, economic and ethnic special interests as Chicago can't be controlled with an iron fist. It's requires a time-worn mixture of consensus-building and compromise, albeit of an occasionally violent nature. Mayor Kane knows how Chicago runs and he, with the hope of trusted lieutenants like Ezra Stone (Martin Donovan) and Kitty O'Neil (Kathleen Robertson), does it well. And not content to merely rule over his own fiefdom, Kane has now hand-picked State Treasurer Ben Zajac (Jeff Hephner) to challenge the state's governor.
 
But there's a complication: Mayor Kane's iron fist has a new unsteadiness. He's just been diagnosed with Lewy-Body Dementia, a disease that shares characteristics with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Suddenly a man with absolutely power is unable to control his own body and his own mind.
 
The Lewy-Body diagnosis comes at the very beginning of "Boss" and it puts into motion what is inevitable. I mentioned that this is the story of a Great Man's downfall and that's inevitable, whether that downfall is put in motion by political forces or physical. I think the question, one that I don't know the answer to, is whether we're supposed to feel like Kane's potential decline is a boon to the city and to those who love him. He's the hero, but he may also be the Satan whose kingdom must come down.
 
Thankfully, "Boss" isn't a redemption narrative. Mayor Kane is told to expect hallucinations and mental instability, but I don't think we're supposed to anticipate that ghosts will start coaching him to become a better man. Yes, Kane seems interested in possibly mending fences with his estranged wife (Connie Nielsen) and differently estranged daughter (Hannah Ware), but there aren't any suggestions that his political approach or desires are shifting.
 
What are Tom Kane's politics? I don't know. He may once have been a Willie Stark-style populist, but we're seeing the character well into his journey, as compromised and blustery as Broderick Crawford was playing Stark at the end of "All the King's Men," rather than in the beginning. He's fighting for Chicago and that presumably means that he's a Democrat, but "Boss" is about process rather than ideology. "The Wire" was able to be about both process and ideology, but that was because "The Wire" was brilliant and because it aspired to both goals, while "Boss" may prefer to look at the brutal theatrics of power (which probably contains an ingrained ideological critique of some sort). 
 
In this context, "Boss" is about Kane and therefore "Boss" is about Kelsey Grammer, whose performance is utterly transformative. Kane may look like Frasier Crane and he may share Frasier Crane's voice, but I found it easy to let the sitcom legend shuffle off his comedic coil. Kane is a master orator and it's no surprise to see Grammer inhabiting that aspect of the role, but when he gets to play Kane's viciousness and his almost hypnotic force of will, this is Grammer like we've never seen him before. He has a mesmerizing monologue in the opening episode that isn't quite Shakespearean in its prose, but which almost rises to that level as Grammer tears into the words. And when Kane's underlings sit and watch him without emotion, we know that we've seen him do this before and we believe it completely. With this performance, Grammer instantly thrusts himself into the middle of an already over-full Outstanding Lead Actor Emmy field for next year. 
 
Grammer and Kane's demonstrative and external expression of influence and power is contrasted by that of his wife Meredith, who comes from a Chicago political family. She's stone-faced and difficult to read, but Nielsen leaves no question that Meredith is a dangerous woman. Playing understated and internalized gives Nielsen a tricky task and she does it compellingly, though the actress' native accent periodically pokes through and caused me minor confusion. I'm still waiting for a clear view of the character, but I'm interested in watching. The same is true of Ware's Emma, though my initial sense is that the character is more problematically written and played and may not have as satisfying a payoff. Emma could be used to force an interesting side exploration of religion and its role in the city, but I'm not sure how well that's likely to work out based on its introduction here.
 
Since I'm more interested in the process, I'm also more interested in the political supporting characters. I like the snake-like smoothness that Donovan brings to the table and how it's contrasted with Robertson's brittle and brusk professionalism. Robertson, a favorite dating back to her days on the real "Beverly Hills, 90210," has one of her best characters in years. Some people will say that the sex scenes featuring Robertson's character are part of Starz' ongoing commitment to gratuitous nudity and sexuality, but I felt like both sex scenes I've seen have played with the familiar dynamics of sexuality, gender and power and that they were driven more by character than by boobs. Others may disagree.
 
I also was interested by Hephner's character and performance, which are only just beginning to show the motivations and peculiarities that lurk beneath Zajac's Kennedy-esque surface.
 
All of the actors, and the city of Chicago, are well served by "Boss" pilot director Gus Van Sant, which captures both the city and the actors on both micro and macro levels, with illuminating close-ups, but also a scale that recognizes Chicago's many neighborhoods and its sprawl.
 
Conventional critical wisdom says that "Boss" is Grammer's show and that he's the main (and possibly only) reason to watch. I see more potential in "Boss," if Safinia continues to prod at the Chicago underbelly and if he continues to keep the theme of the the title song in mind. [If "Boss" wants to pull a "Wire" and swap covers each year, there are plenty of variations to choose from.] And even if the lack of ideological engagement ends up leaving "Boss" short of its potential, yeah, there's always Grammer.

"Boss" premieres on Starz in like five minutes.
Dan-feinberg-sm
Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
Related Searches: TV, review, Starz, Boss, Kelsey Grammer

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  • Default-avatar

    Taylor

    I thought the pilot was excellent. I will be watching. between this and Homeland, new cable shows are on a roll this season. My god , Mad Men seems like a million years ago....

    October 21, 2011 at 11:09PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Matt

    After Jeff Hephner revitalized "The O.C." with his nuanced work in that thrilling hospital-building storyline, I'll watch anything with him in it.

    October 22, 2011 at 2:00AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Viginti

    Great review Dan, well and truely definative. I did find it a little easier to agree with your criticisms than your optimistic comments on the shows future though. While everyone else seemed to be thinking of The Wire and Chicago Code during their viewing the show that wouldn't slip my mind was Brotherhood; both seem to be technically solid cable drama's that look great on paper but never quite acheive that neccesary spark of genius that we see in the pantheon.

    Still, no harm in having hope I guess.

    My own, much shroter and sloppier review-esque thing is here: http://deerinthexenonarclights.com/2011/10/16/the-boss-pilot/

    Still

    October 22, 2011 at 2:35AM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      garyinfh Viginti: How do you expect anyone to take the time to read your own review of the show when your short comment contains no fewer than seven errors of spelling and/or punctuation?

      A shame, too, since on my initial viewing of Boss, I also thought of the relatively-unheralded Brotherhood, which I liked a great deal, but which could have been much more than it actually was. I see you also liked Brotherhood, a mark of discernment. Please put your comments -- not to mention a lengthy review -- through a Spell-Check program or something similar, so that readers can get the full effect of your insights, rather than being distracted by constant typographical errors.

      October 22, 2011 at 4:47PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Viginti That's a solid point Gary. In my defence I wrote that while half asleep and on a foreign computer, ut that's still no excuse. I also, as someone else not as kindly pointed out, referred to the show as 'The Boss' which was clearly a critical error akin only to the Hindenburg disaster. Mostly though I honestly don't expect anyone to read these things, I just don't like to flood comments sections with huge slabs of (uneditable) text.

      Anywho, that's enough about me, onto the show? Do you like it as much as The 'Hood at this stage, early as it is? Any ideas as to what exactly these two shows lacked, in our eyes at least, that kept them from that final step? As a keen auteurist I have a feeling that it might just be as simple as not having a singular talent - i.e. A David – show-running, but that seems a little reductive in part.

      Either way, if the show can continue for three seasons ( and it's already two thirds there in a way ) at this level, then that's still something to be proud of; especially for a fledgling network like Starz.

      (Extrapolating on the length of the post, I'm going to say that there are at least 16 errors of spelling and/or punctuation in there. Anyone want to take an Over/Under on that?)

      October 22, 2011 at 6:14PM EST

    • Leaving aside typos -- I make enough that I don't judge others for that unless they judged me first -- I see the "Brotherhood" linkages people are making. For me, personally, as much as the backdrop of "Brotherhood" always fascinated me, I got so bogged down in the motley and erratic accents and performances (from some AMAZING actors) that I dropped out somewhere early in the second season.

      I think I personally prefer "Boss" by a good amount, at least in the early-going...

      -Daniel

      October 22, 2011 at 7:06PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Viginti One upside to never having set foot in the States (Or Ireland for that matter) is that I've only ever heard the TV and Film versions of those accents, so to me they set the standard rather than fail to meet it.

      Had the show been working perfectly on paper though I doubt that any accent work would have put you off it. One downside to these merely good but aiming for much better style shows is that while they are enjoyable in the moment they rarely leave you needing more. If, say, another episode of 'Boss' never arrived then I doubt that i'd ever miss it, but when an argualy lower-key program like Parks and Rec is off for a week I can barely stand the wait.

      We're probably getting way too in-depth with opinions here though given that there's only been one episode, but I do get the feeling that this is the show on its feet, that they have found their voice and it's just not one that really grabbed me at a B+ level, whatever that means.

      October 23, 2011 at 1:42AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    Frank Parrinello

    I understand this was a review for “Boss”, and not “The Wire”, but I’ll be commenting on the “Wire” portion of your review because I take exception to one of your assertions about that show. You write that “The Wire” was able to be about process and ideology because it was brilliant, and even though it’s not explicitly there in print, I assume that you meant that it was able to do/be those things at the same time in a way that was brilliant. In my opinion, that’s not true of “The Wire”, because whenever I noticed the show being overtly political (which is to say, preachy) I also noticed that it was at the expense of the characters and/or the story. The newspaper storyline in the fifth season existed to give us David Simon’s opinion on what makes and good journalist and a bad one, and in order to convey that point, he created two ridiculous caricatures and one extremely implausible scenario that tied McNulty into that story. The series finale also stretched credulity by slotting the young leads from the brilliant fourth season into roles that didn’t fit their characters, but nevertheless fit with Simon’s vision of how the world works. Finally, after four years of romanticizing Omar, Simon and company decided they would teach us a lesson about romanticizing people like Omar. Simon’s pessimistic world view also led to some of the more boring storylines, like Carcetti’s extremely predictable turn from idealistic politician to compromised politician (although in that case, Gillan’s performance was so intelligent and alive that it almost didn’t matter). All of which is to say that even a show headed by a group of exceptionally talented writers will suffer under the weight of political ideology, because political ideology often drains the nuance from characters and story even under the supervision of a great writer surrounded by other talented writers.

    I liked the pilot for “Boss” because Kelsey Grammer put on a hell of a show. On the other hand, his character and some his monologues, in terms of the writing, were a little bit too theatrical for my taste. The scenes in which Kane raged and threatened were not effective to me because they didn’t feel earned; rather, they felt like an attempt at injecting Drama into a pilot that deals with subject matter that many people find boring. Subject matter aside, the pilot did have a few things to compensate for, especially in terms of the supporting cast. Most of the characters seem more like types than people. Since we know so little about these people, there’s still potential to add depth, nuance and complexity to the supporting characters, and I think I’ll be sticking around to see whether that happens.

    October 22, 2011 at 9:30PM EST Reply to Comment

    • Frank - Season 5 of "The Wire" is pretty well acknowledged to be the least successful - relatively speaking -- in the show's run and the reasons you give are the reasons people logically and correctly give: It was much easier to see the strings being pulled. But the first four seasons of "The Wire" were also consistently and extensively ideological. The fact that you don't complain about those seasons has more than a little to do with the brilliance of those seasons.

      -Daniel

      October 22, 2011 at 9:36PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    neil

    What is the piano piece played at episode One's end and over the credits?

    October 23, 2011 at 11:11PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      webdiva Somebody already answered that in Sepinwall's review: Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No. 1, I think (there were more).

      October 24, 2011 at 7:01AM EST
    • Default-avatar

      joe quinn gnoissienne NO. 1 eric satie

      October 4, 2012 at 1:50PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    neil

    anyone know the name of the piano piece played at the end?

    October 23, 2011 at 11:14PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Default-avatar

      a Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1

      November 12, 2011 at 2:53AM EST
  • Default-avatar

    neil

    Does anyone know the name of the piano piece played at the end of the first episode of Boss?

    October 24, 2011 at 10:56AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    SEXYRED

    Tonight was my first night watching "Boss". I really got into it. The only thing that through me off was the misspelled word in the subtitles during the construction site scene. The word is "gases" not "gasses".

    November 28, 2011 at 3:45AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    R

    Hope you haven't given up on this show. It has only gotten better as the season progresses. Last Friday's was the best yet; very intense episode!

    December 10, 2011 at 2:40AM EST Reply to Comment

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