A Man. And His Blog.

Season 1, Episode 1
Date of airing: Jan 12, 2012 (FOX)
Watched for review: Jan 14, 2012
Number of review in January/2012: 63/63

When it comes to TV critics, spin-offs of successful TV shows are never really a good idea. With the exception of the crime franchises CSI, NCIS and LAW & ORDER, there are maybe just two prestigious TV spin-offs, which were not only successful in their own rights, but also build a complete own universe, never to depend on the universe of the mother show, while the rest was barely a magnet for the audience or got cancelled after a season. THE BIONIC WOMAN from the 1970s and Buffy’s blood-hungry lover ANGEL were able to make their show on their own behalf, creating a universe on their own. With THE FINDER, there’s a newcomer in the world of sequels, remakes and adaptations. The backdoor pilot of this new show was an episode in the sixth season of BONES, and introduced us to former soldier Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults), who, based on his own words, can find anything everywhere at any time. He can find missing people, lost trinkets, or maybe the faith people tend to lose nowadays. Even though said backdoor pilot in BONES let some people ask what Dr. Brennan and Special Agent Booth have to do with the story, but the backdoor pilot was simply there to give Walter the best opportunity to build his character, so that he can carry his own show.

While BONES is (loosely?) based on Kathy Reich’s series of books, THE FINDER goes to bed with a complete different book: Loosely adapted is “The Locator” by Richard Greener, and it has nothing to do with either Kathy Reich’s book series or BONES itself. The show tells the stories of Walter and his friend and partner Leo Knox (Michael Clarke Duncan), who are busy to solve the case of a missing father, who allegedly crashed with his plane somewhere over the pampa of Florida, and his missed by his son Cooper (Brett Davern). Walter makes it clear to Cooper that he might not like what Walter finds out about his father. Walter is not just a simple locator of things, he is the best in the world. He literally finds anything everywhere at any time. Just because he bites himself into those cases, never letting go, eventually even risking his own life for the search. Walter gets support by hot US Marshal Isabel Zambada (Mercedes Masöhn), as well as teenage juvenile Willa Monday (Maddie Hasson), who has her very own selfish reason to stay with Walter and his team.

Similar to BONES, THE FINDER doesn’t have much trouble to be easy-going and flaky, as well as not going too much into a complex story to confuse the audience. The setup of the show is fairly simple and could remind of stereotypical USA dramas with eccentric characters, some dramatic background story for the major character, neurotic methods of investigations, episodic storylines. And all of this in the beauty of Florida (despite being shot in the lofts of Los Angeles), which makes THE FINDER looks like MAGNUM, P.I. or HAWAII FIVE-0 – just without the mustache, car chases or shootouts. That’s also the reason why THE FINDER can’t be considered as something new in the world of television, mostly because it delivers clichés already seen a dozen of times in recent years. THE FINDER is more of an update of those 80s detective stories on TV, but the show looks more important than it actually is, thanks to its creator Hart Hanson, who is also responsible for BONES. After all, Hanson managed to put a spin on the crime genre with BONES, focusing more on the characters than the investigation of a murder. If THE FINDER is going to be the same is still in the open – the pilot didn’t show much why it should be considered the “new kind” of crime television in a sea of crime-filled television.

Instead of pulling all strings for the episodic arc and focusing on the investigation, Hanson is busy with taking Walter’s case to the defense and to put the social awkwardness of his main character in the center. This feels especially forced in the first half of the episode, and it doesn’t give Geoff Stults any time to shine with his character. He is basically downgraded to a comedian, who is not capable to tell a joke, much less find the punchline, or realizing how other people must feel around him. Yes, this builds on the charm of Walter Sherman, the crazy awkward finder, but the pilot didn’t show much to make me believe this character is the non-plus ultra of television in the year where the Mayan calendar ends. The pilot doesn’t make clear if THE FINDER becomes a character-centric crime show, like BONES, or just a simple sunny and funny show about a guy who finds stuff. Worse is another thing: The pilot makes the quiet assumption that Walter has some sort of superpowers. Instead of stopping after the explanation of Walter’s brain damage, the episode continues to “explain” why Walter is how he is, and likes to be in life-threatening danger. And it’s kind of dangerous to have such kind of assumption in a show, where there’s no supernatural stuff. The scene on the airfield showed this perfectly, but at least it also showed that the explanation of the brain damage also gives the writers reason to step on the gas in the middle of the episodes, delivering twists and answers, to bring this episode to an early end. The usual way of investigators finding answers to their cases, even though it doesn’t make sense at all…

This is why you shouldn’t take THE FINDER serious as a TV show. The only fun lies between Walter and Leo, as well as in the panties scene for the male audience, when Isabel comes storm out of her bed session with a gun – and her bra and panties. However there’s also Willa, and she can’t succeed to be a good character from the start. With her you get the feeling, she can transform to an annoying teenager, who is not able to be given proper stories than the typical teenage/coming-of-age stuff. Then again: Willa is not the daughter of one of the main characters, which gives her a different dynamic with the rest of the cast. And hopefully Hart Hanson is good enough to create good storylines out of this dynamic.

And when Hanson’s writing team is able to make a good show out of THE FINDER, despite all its easiness and laziness, then there is a good chance that the predictable investigations will be scaled back a notch in the near future. Walter Sherman definitely fits in the line of eccentric characters like Gregory House or Walter Bishop, even though the show itself doesn’t feel like it wants to be a very special show. At least the show fits perfectly enough into the FOX schedule to create hope that the ratings will climb over the course of the first season. Let’s not forget: BONES was like THE FINDER (only better in its first season), and has also risen in the Nielsen ratings. If not, let’s not forget the CRIMINAL MINDS spin-off… 5.5/10

Walter does a plane, because he can do it

Isabel has bra and panties. And a gun