I should start off by saying I’m not sure how much I can talk about Wicked City, which premieres Tuesday, October 27th on ABC. Aside from avoiding spoilers, I mean there’s so much about this show that strays far from what a Disney site would normally cover that I actually don’t know what to say. With more grisly imagery and sexual content than I knew was allowed on network, Wicked City may shock but it doesn’t awe.
The show — or, should I say, this season since this is the latest in a growing list of “anthology” series — is set in 1982 Los Angeles. More specifically, the nightlife of the Sunset Strip including the famous Whisky a Go Go create the backdrop for the debauchery that ensues. This includes plenty of cocaine (in fact, the show’s stylized logo substitutes the ‘i’ in “Wicked” for a line of powder), rock music, and, oh yeah, murder.
Mere years after the infamous Hillside Strangler killings, a new serial killer has struck Hollywood, even going as far as to leave his first victim’s body in the same place as the Strangler. It’s no spoiler to tell you that the murderer in question is Kent played by Ed Westwick. At the Whisky, we see him hitting on various women including a wannabe rock journalist (Taissa Farmiga) and a single mother (Erika Christensen). But, it’s poor Emily who makes the unfortunate mistake of leaving with Kent and (to Disneyfy this morbid program) ends up having more in common with The Hatbox Ghost than most people would prefer.
Leading the case to find this new killer is Jack Roth (Jeremy Sisto from Clueless and about 50 other things since then) — a good cop with own set of problems and vices — and his appointed-as-so-against-Roth’s-wishes partner, Paco Contreras (Gabriel Luna). As you’d expect, the two must learn to put aside their differences in order to solve the case. Soon, this means bringing on Karen to help since she was one of the last people to see Emily alive.
As I mentioned, the show is very graphic — at least for network. While I was surprised by this in the short teaser that was released before I was able to see the full pilot, I was more surprised that a show would try to make us root for a serial killer (yes, Dexter, but he kills for good… sorta). However, upon watching the first episode, I’m not quite sure who the protagonist is or who we are supposed to like. Because of this, I think the show will prove too dark for most viewers — hence my prediction that it would be the first ABC show cancelled this season, though it looks like Blood & Oil will take that crown.
To be fair, Wicked City wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be based on the trailer. Additionally, my opinion of the show would also be much lower if I didn’t know that this initial storyline was only going to last for 10 episodes. Still, I can’t picture many viewers investing in this show based on the pilot. I predict most will just Whisky a Go Go to another channel (sorry).
Wicked City premieres Tuesday, October 27th at 10 p.m. on ABC.