PilotWatch: UNFORGETTABLE

CBS Tuesdays @ 10pm

What's it about?
Carrie Wells is an enigmatic former police detective with a rare condition that makes her memory so flawless that every place, every conversation, every moment of joy and every heartbreak is forever embedded in her mind.  It's not just that she doesn't forget anything - she can't; except for one thing: the details that would help solve her sister's long-ago murder.

So, how was it?
I've never been a big fan of police procedurals.  I prefer dramas with ongoing storylines I can get invested in (ala LOST, FRINGE).  The odd episode of LAW & ORDER or CSI is great while I'm at the laundromat waiting for my clothes to finish drying, but I never feel compelled to follow up on the show the next week.  So I must admit bias against UNFORGETTABLE before going in, but unfortunately the show didn't really do anything special to overcome that bias.

The one twist this show has that sets it apart from other procedurals is that its protagonist, Carrie, CAN'T.  FORGET.  ANYTHING.  Much is made of this ability (which is actually a real medical condition) throughout the pilot, with characters incessantly talking about it, as though just because the audience doesn't have it, they expected us to forget that Carrie does.  But the ability was interesting in this first hour, because the scene of the murder being investigated happened to be at Carrie's apartment building, and she knew the victim.  Therefore, her memories came in handy.  What I'm confused about is how this ability will come in handy week after week.  Isn't it only useful if she's at the scene when the murder is committed so she can remember details other witnesses may have missed or forgotten?  I'm not sure what advantage this ability has in the long-run, but I assume the writers have some sort of plan.

The scenes where Carrie slips back into her memories were mildly interesting in the way that they were shot, but I imagine the use of this slow, surreal, dream-like state in order to arrive at one small clue several times throughout every episode would get old very quickly.  And the one overarching plot line within the show isn't really enough to hold my attention for a whole season: of course the day her sister was murdered is the one day Carrie CAN'T.  REMEMBER.  But the idea of a mysteriously dead sibling and shadowy figures in the woods is too cliché to make me hope that the resolution will be anything particularly interesting.

Poppy Montgomery (WITHOUT A TRACE) and Dylan Walsh (NIP/TUCK) make for relatable leads.  No one in this show is terrible -- whatever fault this show has is not in the acting.  Neither is any one cast member particularly amazing, but they manage to serve the story well.  However, the entire aura of street smarts and feelings of likability that Carrie builds up over the first hour are entirely shattered when she makes the incredibly asinine decision to go after who she (and she alone) knows is the murderer by herself at night.  Really?  Really???  She must be the world's worst cop.  It also doesn't bode well that I figured out the "twist" well before anyone on the show did.  Am I the only one who saw it coming about a mile away?  If the writers can't come up with a genuinely compelling mystery on their very first outing when the whole world of crime is their oyster, how am I supposed to have faith that the cases every week will be any more interesting?

Rating:
** Okay. I may give this another episode or two to see if it gets good.
Let me clarify.  I was really on the fence about this one.  I wanted to give it just one star because I have absolutely no intention of watching this show again.  But the fact is, it's not full-out atrocious, so I couldn't do that.  It is not measurably better or worse than any procedural crime drama on television, at least in my experience.  And if that genre is your thing, then this show may be right up your alley.  So in the sake of fairness, I gave it two stars, mostly for its likable leads and interesting premise.  But if I'm being honest, I won't be tuning in again next week.  Maybe someday at the laundromat.  (Warning: I'm now going to make a pun I'm sure has already been made countless times.)  Unfortunately, despite the claims of its title, this show was completely FORGETTABLE.

What did you think, Fellow Addicts?  Are crime procedurals your thing?  If so, did this live up to them, or not?  Did you figure out the twist, too?  Vote in the poll below and then hit the comments!

(For a quick glance at the other pilots coming out, check out my Fall TV Preview.)

What did you think of UNFORGETTABLE?