Regardless of the above {photograph}, Ted Black just isn’t a contented man. The lead of “Fits L.A.,” performed by former “Arrow” and “Heels” star Stephen Amell, isn’t the place he needs to be in his profession. He isn’t the place he needs to be on this planet, both, and he’s misplaced nearly each individual he loves. One of many few remaining positives in his life is upended earlier than the pilot involves an in depth, pushing poor Ted that a lot additional into distress.
To be clear, Ted is not poor. He’s very well-off, if not outright rich, contemplating he’s a formidable lawyer working out of L.A.’s ‘luxe Culver Metropolis neighborhood. On the very least, he’s obtained sufficient cash to really feel snug, and that consolation ought to be indulged every now and then. Inform a couple of jokes. Exit for a few beers. Catch a Lakers sport. Maybe Ted isn’t having fun with what he can out of life as a result of, once we’re first launched, he’s thrust into disaster administration mode. However even after the overcooked pilot finishes burning bridges, Ted can’t be bothered to construct them again up.
This offended lone wolf routine stands in stark distinction to the unique “Fits,” a product of USA Community’s “blue sky” period, the place reveals like “White Collar” and “Burn Discover” saved the temper gentle and the nice instances rolling. Issues would come up, positive, however they tended to be nuisances extra usually than nightmares, and the melodrama, whereas rooted in characters and their relationships, was additionally precisely that: mellow.
“Fits” match the mildew. Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) are paired up within the pilot, by way of a platonic meet-cute the place the previous by chance lands a job on the latter’s elite regulation agency, regardless of missing a regulation diploma. The 2 strangers develop into tied on the hip by their shared secret — Mike wants a job to assist his grandmother’s medical payments, and Harvey wants Mike as a result of he’s impressed together with his moxie or one thing. It doesn’t actually matter, as a result of “Fits” isn’t meant to be reasonable or critical and even all that dramatic; it’s meant to be enjoyable.
“Fits L.A.” just isn’t enjoyable. It’s not reasonable both, however that doesn’t cease it from being superfluously dramatic and super-duper critical. For causes I’m prohibited from disclosing at the moment, its central dynamic — and the one one with clear potential shifting ahead — turns “Fits L.A.” right into a bizarro model of “Fits,” which is form of intriguing from the surface wanting in. (Why would NBC fee this spinoff of “Fits”?) However in follow, “Fits L.A.” proves as alienating as the unique sequence was inviting.
Primarily, I blame Ted. Sure, the dialogue is stilted and nearly solely exposition. Positive, the supporting solid is as bland as a Dodger Canine and the phases as prosaic as Dodger Stadium. However a stable central character can get you to look previous all that, and Ted is just too one-note, too disagreeable, and too rattling offended to encourage our funding.
“Fits L.A.” tries to stability Ted’s anger by sometimes casting him as a tragic boi — evoking our pity by including to his adversities. After getting blindsided and practically dropping all his purchasers, Ted is compelled to develop into what should really feel unthinkable to a former federal prosecutor: a protection lawyer. Tack that onto a painful break-up and extra spoiler-y misfortunes, and it is smart why Ted may not be the sunniest man within the metropolis.
(The clearest signal of simply how tousled Ted is arrives by chance. Halfway via the second episode, it’s revealed the born-and-bred New York Knicks fan has satisfied himself to root for the Lakers. And no, he’s not doing it for enterprise causes. He’s not sitting courtside to woo purchasers. He claims Kobe Bryant transformed him and, with all due respect to Black Mamba, that’s the stupidest purpose I’ve ever heard. Inform me: Do New Yorkers have a tendency to change sides when their group is routinely bested by an archrival’s elite expertise? They do? Oh, nice. In that case, I can’t wait to see Madison Sq. Backyard crammed with Jayson Tatum jerseys.)
Clearly, this man is unwell, however he’s not unwell in a method that sparks curiosity. Ted is unwell in a method that may’t be mounted by a gentle stream of flashbacks. His previous isn’t all that attention-grabbing, even when it portrays the life he prefers, and even when that life finally turns into the one he bothers to construct in his new metropolis. That might be a distinct present, with a distinct Ted, on a distinct community, at a distinct time. It is likely to be the one you need, and it would even be the one you felt such as you had been promised within the title, however regardless of L.A.’s perpetually sunny skies, “Fits L.A.” can’t escape Ted’s pitch-black clouds.
Grade: D+
“Fits: L.A.” premieres Sunday, February 23 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Episodes can be obtainable the subsequent day on Peacock.