CSI ventures into Cyberspace

So we've just watched the first episode of CSI: Cyber. ((And no, not about cybersex. Just wanted to get that out of the way)).

The danger with a franchise show such as CSI or NCIS is that they could become stale or formulaic. Thus NCIS moved from Washington to LA to New Orleans. CSI moves from Las Vegas to Miami to New York, and now to cyberspace. Unfortunately, it's not cyberpunk-style hacking with jacking in directly to the computer and mentally skating the ICE. There's some holographic stuff though, and lots of computerised representations of computer connections and the like, which is cool.

Unlike previous CSI teams which were attached to the local police departments, Cyber is FBI based, which apparently means they're based in Washington and travel all over the US. It's also a change in theme, taking on a particular focus, which makes it akin to Law&Order's two spin offs, SVU and Criminal Intent.

But is it any good? Well... yes, so far. Bit of action, bit of cool investigatey stuff, interesting characters and banter... I like what I've seen.

It's also the first of these shows to have a female lead, Avery Ryan, played by Patricia Arquette. She's a former psychologist turned behavioural analyst. Cool, determined, strong willed, and always two steps ahead.

Then there's Elijah Mundo, a former Marine. He's kinda the action-dude of this team, and, surprisingly, he's played by James Van Der Beek. For anyone who doesn't recognise the name, ever hear of Dawson Creek? It was a angsty teen drama some years back, and Van Der Beek was the titular Dawson. He's actually fairly likable and convincing in Cyber.

We also have Peter MacNicol as Ryan's boss, Simon Sifter. He's kind of a departure for MacNicol so far, as he's not at all geeky or quirky as he was in Ghostbusters 2, Ally McBeal, or Numbers. Instead, he's a fairly normal guy who is perhaps (I'm not sure of this) not entirely comfortable with technology or maybe just with cybercrime, but is willing to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt to do what she needs to.

Those are the big names so far. The team is rounded out by three more:

1. Krumitz (Charley Koontz), a white-hat hacker who is so far the stereotypical fat computer geek.
2. Raven Ramirez (Hayley Kiyoko), who the Wikipedia page describes as a former black-hat hacker, now working as a specialist in social media and trends.
3. Brad Nelson (Shad Moss), another reformed hacker who apparently works through complex problems by speaking out loud in rhyme. He's the only black guy on the team, so it miiiiight be a rap or hip-hop reference.

Overall they seem to be a fairly good mix of characters and relationships. Everyone is distinct and has a role to play. The banter between them wasn't too bad, although at the end of the episode Sifter cracked a joke about "You can all go home to your basements". Sigh.

Diversity wise, for those keeping score... if we take Sifter out of the mix because he's not really part of the team per se, then you get five altogether. Three are white. Two are women. One black guy. And Raven Ramirez is a slight puzzle, Spanish name but the actress has Japanese ancestry, so it's a toss up whether she's meant to be Latina or if it's just a name, like Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds. Oh, and one fat guy.

If you're wondering why I bothered listing all those, I like that the show is somewhat diverse. And it might help anyone who wants to see more diversity on screen if they decide to take a chance on the show.

I'm not a professional critic, so I don't have the highly tuned senses or the long experience of trope and cliche. But I know what I like, and this is a pretty good start so far. Time will tell if it lives as long as CSI Miami and New York, or if it goes the way of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour.