Photo: Fox

I like crime dramas. I like Terry Lost The Stepfather O’Quinn. Then why has it taken me almost a week to dig into the first ep of Fox’s Gang Related? Let’s see….

Story: Badass cop Ryan is the golden child of the Gang Task Force (GTF) in LA. One slight problem; this golden child is actually an informant for a badass Latino gang, feeding the patriarch, Javier Acosta, intel. But only til said patriarch can bring the gang into a clean way of life don’cha know. Javier’s douchebag of an older son may not go along with that, but younger son – and Ryan’s friend from way back, is on board.

So?: Terry O’Quinn gives good task force leader, and Cliff Curtis manages to convey the smoothness and the danger of a truly powerful mob boss. RZA is funny and charming as Cassius (another member of the GTF), but it’s Fast & Furious’ Sung Kang as Agent Tae Kim that has me wanting a back story. Let’s just say there’s a scene with a large, red-hot lug nut that drew me into his character.

But?: I still haven’t thought of Ryan as anything more than a bastard that is selling out the lives of his teammates for what’s sure to be the fleeting promises of a bad guy. Does Ryan do a few cool things in this episode? Yes. But right now I’m not invested in him enough to get past his character’s gigantic missteps. Though if they axed Ryan and made it The Cassius & Tae Show I’d be totally cool with it. The final scenes had me excited about seeing Ryan as his own man, but I went right back to not trusting him two seconds later. Not how I want to feel about the “hero” of a show. Either get Ryan off the force, or get him more invested with the people he’s working with, and the cause they’re fighting for.

Right now?: I’m okay with giving Gang Related another episode – or maybe two – so it can find it’s footing. But unless the creators can get past their love of being “edgy” and “different” for novelty points – which they’re not, see The Departed or The Sopranos – I don’t see myself setting up a Hulu subscription.