I know I’ve been talking about television a lot lately, but I find the new season to be somewhat fascinating. I’m taking a step back in looking at them – what makes them work, what makes them not work. I find it instructive.

A new entry that I’ve started watching is Life on NBC. Life has the advantage of starring Damian Lewis, who I was impressed by as Winters from HBO’s Band of Brothers. The premise is that he was a cop who went to jail for 12 years (on a life sentence) only to be released when DNA evidence showed that he was innocent. His settlement involved a lot of money and the return of his badge. It’s a basic cop show, but the hook is that Lewis’ character, Charlie Crews, thinks differently from his time in jail. He’s a bit more animalistic in some ways, and he has coping mechanisms derived from his time in jail – be in the present moment, detach your feelings from the objects and people around you, etc. It makes his character quirky and, for me, extremely likable. And they manage to convey the effect of his incarceration fairly well. I’ve only seen two episodes, but there are moments when I’ve been watching and had to stop and just imagine what it would be like to be in prison for that long, for something that you did not do.

For me it always comes down to relationships. And the relationship between Crews and his partner is a decent one – strained, but also growing and the addition of Adam Arkin as Crews’ houseguest/financial advisor adds an element of humor to the show (I’ve liked Arkin since his time on Northern Exposure). But there is also a mystery element, something that also gets me, as Crews is basically trying to figure out the murder that he went to jail for, and figure out who set him up. This is unraveled in little bits and pieces, but it’s enough to keep the suspense simmering in the background, an element I expect to heat up as the season continues.

Out of all the television shows I’ve seen so far this season, I think Life is actually the best. It’s probably the show I would miss the most if it doesn’t succeed (or if I mess up the DVR).