ABC’s Forever features Ioan Gruffudd as Henry Morgan (No word if he has any relation to the famed Welsh privateer, pirate and admiral of the English navy) who is a medical examiner in New York City. However, as is common to television, he has a secret. He has been alive for over 200 years. Everytime he “dies” his body disappears and he reemerges naked in water. This last pit does seem a bit gratoitus but it is ABC after all.
At work, Henry develops a working relationship with Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza) who recently suffered the loss of her husband. Henry’s long history and knowledge makes him a Sherlock Holmes type who is able to see things that the normal officers miss.
Abe (Judd Hirsch) is Henry’s only confident who knows his secret. Abe also knows of Henry’s longing for his beloved Abigail whom he met during World War II, but appears to be long gone. Abe comes to rescue Henry after every “death” by picking him up and providing some much needed clothes. As an anitques dealer, Abe also is able to talk to Henry about items that Henry hardly considers “old.”
In the pilot, it is revealed that someone else knows his secret. This mysterious individual also claims to be immortal, just like Henry. This mystery scares Henry as he has the power of exposing Henry and subjecting him to painful experiments while he loses the “normal” life he had built for himself.
The show is really two shows in one. The main plot is a Sherlockian cop show with Henry finding the murderer without the use of Scooby Snacks. Since I do not watch the other shows in this vain, I can’t compare it. But that being said, I do enjoy watching Henry use his experience to deduce the answer to the mystery.
The other show surrounds the mythology around Morgan’s bizarre condition. While just the bead crumbs of this plot have been placed, to me this is less interesting. Perhaps it just exists to keep this procedural show have the “stickiness” of a mythology show, but so far it just seems as a distraction from the main A story which is far more enjoyable.
The show does feature a great supporting cast with the legendary Judd Hirsch and Law & Order’s Alana De La Garza. These two actors hold their own weight while adding some fun to the somewhat straight-forward and sometime dour attitude of Henry Morgan. Joel David Moore who is Morgan’s assistant at the morgue adds brevity by showing what it is like to have a distant boss that seems to know everything.
The struggle Forever has in keeping me coming back is that it is just average. With Netflix, cable, and broadcast networks stepping up their game, average shows have a harder time getting onto my schedule. I enjoyed the first two episodes, but I don’t know if it will make the cut once the fall television season really begins. I give the show 3 out of 5 stars.
Forever premieres September 22 at 10/9c before moving to its normal night and time on Tuesdays at 10/9c beginning September 23rd.