Season 1 - 9 episodes (2021)
Season 2 - 10 episodes (2024)
Rent American Rust on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the book (paid link)
Created by: Dan Futterman, Philipp Meyer (based on)
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Maura Tierney, David Alvarez, Julia Mayorga, Alex Neustadedter, Mark Pellegrino, Rob Yang
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
Set in a small Rust Belt town in Pennsylvania, complicated and compromised chief of police Del Harris takes on an investigation when the son of the woman he loves is accused of murder.
Verdict
The focus is a small town that's a stand-in for the decaying cities that have rising unemployment, crime, and opioids. It's a great idea, but this doesn't have enough to say. The moments never feel as big as they should. While we've got complicated relationships and shifting alliances, this ends with a whimper instead of a bang. I wanted more from this. The second season loses the broad commentary and becomes a rather typical, though complicated, detective drama. The show never reaches it's goal of social commentary.
It depends.
Review
This originally aired on Showtime, canceled after the the first season. Amazon Freevee picked it up for a second and final season.
Del Harris (Jeff Daniels) is the police chief in a small town. You get the sense this is the kind of place where everyone knows each other and their business. He seems to be a libertarian, upset with anyone trying to tell him what to do with his land. We see a crime, and then this pulls the whole six months earlier.
 |
| Jeff Daniels plays Del Harris |
This is a town full of broken dreams. Industry is leaving and banks are auctioning off houses. Billy Poe (Alex Neustaedter) had a division one scholarship for football but for some reason stayed in town. The sheriff helped Billy out of an assault charge a few months ago as Del is dating Billy's mom, Grace (Maura Tierney). Now Billy is under investigation for murder.
You know there has to be more to the case, but the show teases that for the first half of the season. Del is chasing down leads, certain Billy didn't do this. The concurrent stories are Grace trying to start a union and Billy's friend Isaac (David Alvarez) hitchhiking across the state. The Isaac story line always feels like a distraction. I doubt that Isaac could make it as far as he does. It feels like Isaac's fantasy of what hitch hiking could be. It's rarely believable.
In episode four we see what happened, but it's far from being resolved. The show's reach exceeds its grasp. This wants to explore small town decay, but it needs a stronger story. This is a standard crime drama. We get this football star that never left town and ends up being charged with a crime. His reasons for staying are weak. This show could do more to examine the failings of small towns. The system is rigged for the lower class.
While this started out as Del trying to help his girlfriend's kid, towards the end of the series he just wants to know what's going on in his town. Del has been clearly against vigilantism, but what he discovers pushes him to change his mind. His struggle makes him more interesting, and it provides the show with a nice conclusion. Despite that, this show's big moments never feel that big. It pulls a few punches, and the final episode feels like a missed opportunity.
Season two becomes a standard crime drama. Del returns to Pittsburgh as a detective, and he's involved with some cops that may be breaking the law. The show squeezes plenty of drama out of that. While he commutes back and forth to Pittsburgh, his former Deputy Steve Park (Rob Yang) and the DA are out to get him based on the events from season one. There's a larger conspiracy going on that runs the entire season. There's also a mining company that's paying people off while destroying the community due to fracking. Episode nine is a wild episode where many questions are answered. While it almost seems a bit too ridiculous, it's also seems too easy. This season ditches the commentary and becomes more of a thriller. It opts for a wild and shocking conclusion, hoping that mentioning fracking will suffice for social commentary.
The seasons are very different. Neither does enough to rise above a solid if not standard police drama. The first wants to delve into small town decay, the second opts to focus more on the police and less on the town.
No comments :
Post a Comment