Leo Romba (Jacky Ido) is a french NY taxi cab driver. He spent 4 years in a French prison for being the wheel man in a bank robbery. It wasn't an easy imprisonment since the money belonged to some bad guys. NYPD Detective Cat Sullivan (Chyler Leigh) is investigating his father's murder. It's stuck in IA and they're stonewalling her. She's meeting a secret informer but she's disrupted by a bank robbery. The bank robber had hijacked Leo's cab. After crashing her car once again, she's banned from driving by her superior and forced to walk the beat. Instead she continues to investigate both the bank robbery and his father's death by getting Leo to drive her in his cab.
The premise looks really stupid and I couldn't believe the silly promo ads. So I had to check out the show. In that sense, this doesn't disappoint. It's a mess. This is supposed to be funny but the comedy is clunky. It's got bad annoying musical cues. I don't even know why they try to be funny. The only one marginally funny is Ally Walker as the wacky mother. In general, they should abandon any attempt to be funny.
The pilot is just jam packed with too much story. There is an intense bank robbery caper. Then everybody has a crazy backstory. Cat has daddy issues. A federal agent comes to pick up Leo and it turns out to be Cat's ex. Leo has a family back in France and I'm sure the bad guys are coming for him. At least they got a few car chases in. I always like real stunt driving. However it's so chaotic that I couldn't really enjoy them.
The acting is problematic. I like Chyler Leigh but she just doesn't fit as a cop. They try so hard to tomboy her up but the stylish pixie cut is just so cute. I don't remember french actor Jacky Ido other than in 'Inglourious Basterds'. I like him but I don't really know much about him. It's nice to see Jennifer Esposito back after her illness. I don't know how much input Luc Besson has in this. My best guess is that he had a general outline and other people crammed all kinds of junk into this. It's just a mess.
EDIT (after 7 episodes): The show improved in a few areas while problems still remain. First, the earthquake stopped. The shaky camera was half the problem. Second, the story is simplified more into a procedural. Thankfully the ex-husband is sidelined. Although it's a shame that Ally Walker and Jennifer Esposito seem to have also been reduced in their roles. Third, Chyler Leigh got a makeover. However she has gone too far the other way dressing like a fashionista. The taxi thing is still too convoluted. How Leo can still be in post 9/11 America considering he's an ex-con is beyond me. A guy like that couldn't possibly even get a visitor Visa in the real world. It's silly at best and uncomfortably stupid at its worst.
