I’m not sure I would be writing about The Beast, debuting tonight on A&E, if it did not star Patrick Swayze, which is to say, if star Patrick Swayze did not have pancreatic cancer. The grimy, Chicago-set cop drama itself, of which I’ve seen two episodes, is sort of The Shield lite—which is to say, The Shield dark, but not as interesting or complex in its characters. Swayze plays Charles Barker, an undercover FBI agent under investigation, who takes on a young partner (Travis Fimmel)—even though we learn, and are repeatedly reminded, that he’s not really the partnering type.
The premise is strictly out of the basic cable antihero playbook, and the dialogue is often so floridly noirish it’s laughable. But whether it’s the cancer’s physical ravages (which leave Swayze gaunt and hungry-looking), the effect of the cancer on his outlook, or simple talent and focus, Swayze manages to make Barker not just believable but compelling. It is sad to say that Swayze’s illness will probably generate a lot more curious tune-in for The Beast. Fortunately for him, despite the scripts, his performance may just keep some of those eyeballs around.
[Flashback moment, incidentally: anyone else remember ABC’s (also rather bombastic) short-lived 2001 media drama The Beast, with Frost/Nixon’s Frank Langella? I do, although I didn’t remember that Naveen Andrews of Lost had been in it (then again, neither does the IMDB cast list.)]