Season 1 - 13 episodes (2006-07)
Buy Day Break on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Paul Zbyszewski
Starring: Taye Diggs, Moon Bloodgood, Victoria Pratt, Adam Baldwin, Mitch Pileggi, Jonathan Banks
Rated: TV-14
Watch the trailer
Plot
Today Detective Brett Hopper will be accused of shooting state attorney Alberto Garza. He will offer his rock solid alibi. He will realize he's been framed. And he will run. Then he will wake up and start the day over again.
Verdict
This combines the detective and sci-fi genre as a cop stuck in an unexplainable time loop tries to solve why he's been framed. The structure provides constant tension as Hopper's time is limited before the day resets. With each episode he finds out more information, and finally be the end of the season puts it all together. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way as this conspiracy reaches years back. While the story could be tighter, it's a fun watch.
Watch It.
Review
The show was canceled after just six episodes were broadcast. The rest of the episodes were posted online. One annoying aspect is that the show doesn't accurately portray the days. Hopper was on "day 3" of his loop several times.
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| Taye Diggs plays Brett Hopper |
Brett Hopper (Taye Diggs) wakes up with his girlfriend Rita (Moon Bloodgood), goes to his apartment which was robbed, and then he's arrested. He's been accused of murdering DA Garza. He's later taken from jail, driven to a remote location, and ordered to confess. He wakes up and begins the day again, bewildered that somehow things are repeating. He acts on what he's learned, trying to avoid arrest.
One twist to the concept is that Hopper not only retains information during each loop, he also keeps injuries. When he's shot, he has to treat the injury on every repeat, having to hide it from his girlfriend. Hopper's been framed, and he has to figure out why. With each reset he has to try and dodge the inevitable. Each time, he learns more but this is a complicated puzzle involving several people.
Garza mailed Hopper a package that included a case file. The shadowy organization after him is tracking Hoppers brother in law and sister as well. Internal Affairs is pushing Hopper's partner Battle (Victoria Pratt) to help frame him.
In episode four, somehow Hopper manages to change things. He helped Battle the prior day, and the next day she calls him first thing. That's something that hasn't happened during all the loops. That also provides a lead. Battle's boyfriend is an ex-cop that was involved in the case file Garza mailed him. It turns out Hopper's father also worked on the case, but why is the case important?
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| Moon Bloodgood, Adam Baldwin play Rita, Chad |
While the show counts each day of the loop, I saw "Day 3" several times. This is a known error. The producers intentionally kept the count low so that new viewers wouldn't think they had missed too much of the story. It's certainly confusing and would have been even worse watching this week to week. In episode seven Hopper states he's been at this for three weeks. I do wonder if his bullet wound would heal and scar over in that amount of time. In the same episode Hopper meets another man that might be looping.
By episode eight the importance of the case file becomes clearer. Councilman Booth wants to cover up the case. It's easy to guess why. By episode ten Hopper has figured out who really killed Garza and who is framing him, but that didn't stop the loop.
The show feels like it's stretching in the later episodes. Hopper's father's old partner Nick pop ups, and it's odd we have't see him earlier. He's not just passing by, he's involved. Then we find out that Rita may have a secret. It's a whole new crime involving Rita.
In the final episode Hopper knows everyone involved, the case, and the reasons why he's being framed. I'm not sure why Garza sent the case to Hopper, but he's framed because his dad worked the case. I don't know if this was meant to continue for multiple seasons as this one ends well. Hopper figures it out and breaks the loop. If future seasons were planned, you'd have to make it an anthology. You can't stretch Hopper's story any further, and it would seem ridiculous if he ended up in a time loop again.
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