What would you do if you suspected your teenager was a deadly threat to the students and staff at his school? Would you take the law into your own hands if your young daughter was sexually assaulted and the assailant hadn't been apprehended yet? What if a newborn's parents appeared unfit — would you be justified in kidnapping the baby?
These questions and more are posed in Fox's episodic anthology "Accused," an anticipated addition to television's plethora of courtroom dramas and crime stories true and false. The hourlong series, which is more crime than courtroom, features an all-star cast and an impressive list of names among its directors. But it's not enough to help "Accused" overcome a number of obstacles, just one of which is the confining nature of the show's central structure. Each stand-alone installment focuses on one protagonist as they await their verdict in court. Then, in a series of flashbacks, it revisits the events that led up to their arrest and trial, and looks at the butterfly effect their crime has had on the people around them. As the narrative unfolds, the viewer is meant to ponder whether the main character is guilty, innocent or justified in their actions.
But there's a fundamental problem in trying to tackle topical, complex questions, rooted in moral and ethical ambiguities, within a format that calls for brevity. There's simply not enough time here to unpack the individual stories, so much of "Accused" feels underexplored, even outright rushed. Tales that call for nuance instead rely on shorthand to quickly construct a narrative. For example, a music producer and new father is devastated upon learning that his baby is hearing-impaired in "Ava's Story." How do we know this? Because he refers to abortion as a missed opportunity, refuses to hold the baby and says he wants her to hear what he hears. But there isn't the time or space to convincingly establish him as a conflicted soul or a threat to the child, so the ensuing drama around the infant doesn't have the impact that it should. Shallow wading near deep water is a recurring problem throughout the series, resulting in an unsatisfying drama that doesn't do much to advance or degrade the well-worn genres it borrows from.
Another issue with "Accused" is that the only common thread between the five episodes made available for review is simply that the main character winds up in court for a crime that they may or may not have committed. Some of the stories are about sacrifice, others are about deceit, while others still demystify marginalized communities. The series feels cobbled together from stray scenarios and commentary, rather than building to a broader point about culpability and the criminal justice system.
It's a shame, because the series boasts an impressive cast of actors and creative minds. Developed by Howard Gordon ("Homeland," "24") and based on an award-winning BBC series by Jimmy McGovern ("Cracker"), each episode is brought to life by a different team of writers, directors and actors.
Marlee Matlin directs "Ava's Story," where a deaf surrogate birth mother (Stephanie Nogueras) kidnaps the baby she's been paid to carry after she decides it's in the child's best interest. Billy Porter directs "Robyn's Story," about a drag queen (J. Harrison Ghee) who reluctantly falls for a closeted man (Chris Coy).
In Sunday's series premiere, "Scott's Story," a concerned father (Michael Chiklis) sees troubling signs in the behavior of his detached, angry teenage son (Oakes Fegley). How far should he go to protect society from this imminent threat? Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Wendell Pierce star in "Kendall's Story," about a father seeking revenge for a sexual assault on his daughter. And in "Billy's Story," Keith Carradine is an aging rock star dealing with his son's drug addiction.
It's rare to find truly meaningful portrayals of the wrongly accused on scripted TV, which is why HBO's "The Night Of" was such a masterpiece, and it's always risky covering the gray area between what's right, what's necessary and what's permissible under the law.
"Accused" sets out to tell all its characters' stories with the sort of detail they deserve, but ultimately it falls short. Though crime and punishment is the overarching theme, human intricacy is the true victim here.
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‘ACCUSED’
Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)
How to watch: Premieres at 10 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox, then airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
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