Enter Crime Story.
Set in 1963, Crime Story held a no-holds-barred portrayal of the rise of organised crime, and the efforts of the police force that dedicated themselves to fighting against the tidal wave of crime that rose. Much like The Untouchables, or the much later underrated classic Mullholland Falls, the heroes are never squeaky clean crusaders, but men. Humans, warts and all, tough cookies who get the job done in ways that others could never do. |
The 60's setting at times is at times little more than an excuse for cool clothes, cars and music, as well as the neon landscapes of Americana. Saying that though, social and racial storylines find their way into the show, ranging from Union tampering to a court case involving a black man and his landlord, which never shies away for the horrors of the inequalities of the time, but never vilifies anyone in the pantomime style of other shows of the time.
Crime Story is a show very much rooted in it's time, and the time it tries to emulate, granted, a almost imagined version, a mirrored dream of the time using certain events as a checklist. This gives Crime Story a oddly timeless feel, a half remembered memory of a era. As the show goes on, it begins to move towards the Atomic Age, building towards two water-cooler cliffhangers, which the second unfortunately was never resolved as Crime Story was cancelled at the end of Season 2 with what can only be described as Mutually Assured Destruction between the two leads. Maybe that was for the best, as there could never be a a good ending for these two, as for all we know, their battle still rages on somewhere, in a different story.