Seven Seconds Season One Review

Plot

A+

The setting is Jersey City. Brenton Butler, a 15 year old African American boy is on his bike, making his way through a park. He is left in a ditch after a hit and run for twelve hours in the snow. Prosecutor KJ Harper and detective Joe “Fish” Rinaldi investigate the case, finding it to be a lot more complicated than it seems. Police corruption, a cover up, and a political agenda. God bless America. The sad thing about this story is that it’s an entirely conceivable one.

Drama

A+

This isn’t your typical crime procedural drama. It’s gritty, real, and sometimes horrifying, but that’s what makes it good. The subplots in this show are just as good as the main one. You get to see three perspectives, KJ and Fish’s, the family’s, and the perpetrator’s. None of them hold back and it gives unrelenting waves of conflicting emotions.

Characters

A

All the characters are pretty strong ones. You may not like some- Sorry, let me rephrase. You definitely won’t like some, but they’re all real. They’re real, conflicted human beings. Alcoholism, substance abuse, gang activity, family, the works. There’s one character that I personally dislike more than the others, looking at you, Marie. (Until literally the last five minutes of the finale) But I can’t say that she wasn’t a character with dynamic layers.

Overall

A+

This show is great, and I’m really hoping that it gets a second season. I finished it in two days and I wish that I had savored it more. The cinematography, which as you know is my favorite part of a film, was great and really helped you see through the eyes of the main subject in a scene. The only complaint I have is that it’s painfully slow sometimes. When they set up scenes without dialogue to show a greater meaning through images, I sometimes skipped through them. I just wanted to get straight to the point, mostly. That’s my only vice, and it shouldn’t keep you from watching it. This story, although it has a good share of nice moments and laughs, isn’t a happy one. By the end of it, you aren’t really satisfied, but you aren’t rioting either. It’s more like, “I guess.” The only reason you aren’t mad at it is because that’s how you’re supposed to feel. It emulates the brokenness of our justice system. I’d honestly be more mad if there wasn’t a second season.