KILLER INSTINCT (Fox, Fridays at 9/8 Central)

Premise (From Zap2it) - The series centers on Detective Jack Hale of the San Francisco Police Department's Deviant Crime Unit. Hale has chosen to be on the front line of the city's toughest division after taking a hiatus from the force when his partner -- with whom he had a personal relationship -- died in the line of duty. Intense and private, Hale is haunted by his own personal demons and fights to maintain his sanity and career. While investigating his cases, Hale works closely with his boss, Lieutenant Matt Cavanaugh, who -- despite his better judgment -- supports Hale's unorthodox tactics. Meanwhile, Detective Danielle Carter is preparing to join the force and Hale's world, to go one-on-one with the idea that "behind every monster there's a mystery."

Cast:
Johnny Messner ('Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid')
Chi McBride ("Boston Public")

Does anyone plan to watch tonight's premiere? It looks interestingly depraved (even moreso than "Criminal Minds") with the spiders being used to paralyze the victims so the killer can rape them. Sick and twisted but I'll watch.

Did anyone watch the "web-spinning" premiere? It was so addictive it was akin to paralysis, I couldn't stop watching. In all seriousness, the premiere was really quite good. The case was interesting (It involved a killer who used Funnel Web spiders to paralyze his victims (women in their 20's) in order to make raping them easier. Yes, it was depraved but depraved fun. I'm surprised at how much I liked the show, especially its twisted sense of humor. I cannot wait for next Friday's episode and I recommend that everyone give it a chance.

9/10 A-

The premiere garnered a 3.5/6 which may not seem like much but it was up 84% in households and viewers from former time period occupant "The Complex Malibu." I hope it sticks around because it's an entertaining show.

I know I cannot have been the only person on the boards to have seen the premiere. Any thoughts?

I was thoroughly entertained by this show... it's one of those "so bad and gruesome, it's good." It also had a couple of witty lines and jabs at the Fox network (about them not having procedural cop shows).

What he said

If this doesn't end-up like Jonny Zero's ratings, then Fox will keep it. It did build-up from Bernie Mac's pathetic ratings.

I hope they give it time to find an audience. It certainly is a better show than the putrid "Jonny Zero."

Did anyone happen to catch the second episode tonight. I found the reasoning behind Jack Hale (Johnny Messner) all of a sudden having a new partner convienent but altogether necessary seeing as how the actor portraying his former partner (Margarit Moreau) didn't test well or wasn't liked by Fox. Kristin Lehman was fine as a replacement. Is it just me or does she sort of resemble Uma Thurman, especially her face?

The episode itself was decent entertainment if a little too predictable at times. I plan on watching next week's episode, which looks better. "Killer Instinct" happens to be one of the few Fox shows not interrupted for the baseball playoffs.

OMG I missed it.

So how bizarre was the new partner's introduction?

If I could mail you the tape I recorded it on, I would.

As for the introduction, Jack shows up at the crime scene (the one featured in the ads regarding a "blind" girl getting her eyes removed before being killed) sans Lyford (former partner) and asks Chi McBride (Cavanaugh) why Lyford didn't show up. He responds that she was a plant from Internal Affairs as a test of sorts to see if Jack was ready to be a the head of the Deviant Crimes Unit again after the death of his former partner/close friend (we don't learn anymore about his relationship that apparently went beyond mere partnership on the job). Then Kristin Lehman walks up, McBride says "I'd like you to meet your new partner, Danielle Carter." The two shake hands and get down to business as usual, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Not very dynamic I know but given the reasons behind the switch-up I guess it made sense to make as little as possible out of it and move on. Lehman is decent in the role, sharing some semblance of chemistry with Messner but not really more or less than Moreau did. Personally, I found Moreau to be a cooler character (Her black garb and motorcycle presented her as more out of the ordinary for a detective than is the norm on these crime dramas). Still, I'm willing to give Lehman a chance.

It's also important to note that Fox posts very detailed episode recaps at the official "Killer Instinct" website a day or two after it's aired so be certain to read that for more info. What is nice is that with these crime dramas, they're fairly self-contained so it's not necessary to see every episode in order to understand everything.

http://www.fox.com/killerinstinct/recaps/

Mail it to meeeeee

Thanks, Joe.

Did anyone watch tonight's return episode involving the murders of identical twins by identical twins? This show really piles on the twists! I love it! Next week's episode looks even more bizarre with a killer murdering people with the intention of reanimating their corpses via the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Now that practically defines deviant.