At a time when black men and women are being gunned down by law enforcement on what seems like a regular basis, a television show that focuses on the social costs of these shootings and their aftermath may seem both timely and brave. Handled properly, such a television show might just enlighten the general public.
Shots Fired is not that show. The Fox program suffers from numerous flaws — starting with its basic premise. As Shots Fired opens, we see Officer Beck, gun drawn as the camera reveals a white victim and it becomes clear that Beck is the shooter. The Justice Department is called in, an apparent effort to manage perceptions, and our stars — Sanaa Latham as federal investigator Ashe Akino and Stephan James as federal prosecutor Preston Terry — are tossed into the expected tempest. If this premise seems, well, overly determined verging on offensive in the current climate, it is. But then we get the twist — the death of a black teen, most likely at the hands of the cops, a death left uninvestigated by police — and Shots Fired plugs into the zeitgeist.
Except that it doesn’t. The premiere episode, which sets up the federal investigation of this apparently corrupt southern police force and the community’s unbridgeable racial divisions, sinks under the weight of terrible and cliched writing (including an unnecessary Akino backstory involving a custody case), and generally melodramatic storytelling. Rather than offering a groundbreaking TV moment, Shots Fired is standard-fare, if subpar, television show.
I had high hopes going in and, perhaps, the show will find its footing as it moves forward. I wouldn’t bet on it, though. Nothing offered during episode one makes this seem anything more than a pipe dream.
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Hank Kalet 