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On Television |
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Premieres 10 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 1 on ABC |
 Carla Gugino as Karen Sisco |
Elmore Leonard's heroine
rates as the season's best
"I'm a Marshal. I catch the bad guys and put 'em away." --Karen Sisco
By DONNA J. PLESH
of TheColumnists.com
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Much will probably be written about famed mystery
writer Elmore Leonard and how he is on television now with the
new ABC drama "Karen Sisco." For Leonard fans who read the book "Out of Sight" or for those who saw the big-screen movie version of it, the name Karen Sisco is very familiar. She was the leading female character in both book and film. She also turns up in other Leonard mysteries, at least by name, and now is the focus of this weekly TV series. Simply put, ABC's "Karen Sisco" is the best new show on TV this fall. Carla Gugino (most recently seen in the "Spy Kids" big-screen movies) is Karen, a U.S. Marshal assigned to the Miami office. (The job of the U.S. Marshal service is to protect the federal judiciary, transport federal prisoners, protect federal witnesses, and pursue federal fugitives). In the premiere, Sisco is just returning to the job after being shot though the heart while trying to apprehend a fugitive. What happened in the botched arrest is hazy to Sisco, so she's having problems writing a report on the incident. It's lucky she has an understanding boss (Bill Duke) to run interference for her with the department's Internal Affairs people--and the FBI agents giving her grief about the guy she's dating. The FBI says he's a bank robber--she knows him as a charter boat fisherman. Somebody is right and somebody is wrong. But who? Around for Karen with an open ear--and not a lot of unwanted advice or meddling in her life--is her dad (played by Robert Forster), a semi-retired private eye who enjoys card games with his friends--a group of ex-cons. Guest star Patrick Dempsey is Carl, the maybe fisherman, maybe bank robber. Karen falls hard for him and wants to believe he's not a bad guy. So she decides to investigate him on her own. What she finds is that part of his story is true--he has (had) a fishing boat--which has been repossessed. He needs money to get it afloat again. Banks have money. He and a friend target a bank. Things go awry. Shots are fired, CarlÂ' friend is killed, and Carl gets away with the money. But his Florida Keys new life is short-circuited by Karen Sisco. The U.S. Marshal gets her man .... at least on the job. Gugino's Karen Sisco is just the right blend of modern-day heroine....tough on the outside, but vulnerable on the inside. Physically, she's been hurt by bullets--but those wounds heal. When she opens up her heart to Carl, she does so without holding back, thinking this might just be the right guy. But, once again, her trust is shattered and her heart aches--emotionally--for what might have been. Forster's portrayal of Karen's dad, Marshall Sisco, is just right--a low key, shoulder to cry on guy who loves his daughter more than anything and just wants her to find the right guy and settle down. Here's hoping this show will be a ratings hit and Karen won't have to worry about settling down for a long time. With Leonard on board as a consultant to the show, this will hopefully keep the stories interesting and not your typical police procedurals week after week. ©2003 by Donna J. Plesh. The photo is courtesy of ABC Entertainment. |
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