Nice Girls Review of A&E’s “The Beast”

When the UPS man trudged through the snow up to my front door, delivering my copy of the first two episodes of A&E’s new series, The Beast, I wanted to sit down right then and there to watch it. I’ve been curious about this series ever since I heard about it. Alas, it was Christmas Eve and I had obligations, so The Beast was going to have to wait. Now, here it is, the week after the holidays, and this Nice Girl found some time to pop this into her DVD player, grab a glass of merlot, and enjoy.

The pilot episode grabs you and pulls you into the dark, harsh world of Charles Barker, an FBI agent who specializes in under cover work. Ellis Dove, played by Travis Fimmel, is the handsome, young rookie that Barker takes under his wing, although it often looks more like a choke-hold than a wing-under-taking. Barker is training Dove and he’s not gentle about it in any way, as Dove soon comes to find out. There will be no “now, son, let me show you how it’s done”. The opening scene shows you that right out of the gate. It’s clear these two won’t be sharing any heart-to-hearts any time soon. It also becomes clear to Dove, in the first two episodes, that romance and any chance at a normal, social life, can be kissed goodbye.

I liked Barker, even though he comes across as somewhat of a jerk. He’s a jerk with heart. Just don’t let him know you’ve seen that, though. He’ll only deny it. He’s got some demons too; things that haunt him. I get the feeling he’s paid a very high price for the sacrifices he’s had to make throughout his career. Barker’s going to make sure that Dove knows those sacrifices too, if he’s going to survive the job. The pilot and following episode set up the relationship between these two men nicely, while at the same time, throwing out some hints that there is more to them than catching bad guys. The FBI wants even more from Dove than he may be willing to give, and Barker may not only be fighting criminals, but for his job as well.

I think The Beast is going to be a great show to watch and I highly recommend it. It’s got all the main ingredients for greatness: two fantastic lead actors, great writing, action packed, and just enough humor to take the edge off the heavy drama. You know you can expect greatness with Patrick Swayze attached, but for those of you who are not familiar with Travis Fimmel’s work, you can take it from this Nice Girl, you’re in for a delightful surprise. Good looking, yes, but he’s also got some acting chops that command your attention. Did I say ‘some’? I’m sorry, that’s a gross understatement. I’ve seen him in other projects and you really need to be watching this guy. It was wonderful to watch the scenes with both men together because you just don’t want to miss a single word or move either of them make.

“The Beast” is executive produced by Allan Loeb and Steven Pearl for Scarlet Fire Films (“New Amsterdam”) and Cory Concoff (“Beltway”) for Fuel Filmworks. John Romano (“American Dreams,” “Third Watch”) will serve as the showrunner and executive producer. The pilot script was written by William Rotko (“Breach,” “Beltway”) and Vincent Angell (Stand By Love) who will also serve as co-executive producers. Michael Dinner (“The Wonder Years,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) directed the pilot. “The Beast” will be produced by Sony Pictures Television for A&E Network. Watch the premiere on January 15 at 10 p.m./9 Central, on A&E.