Carol Quillen

I want to like it, but found myself flinching throughout, especially with the star, Meloni. He did not have the gravitas required for this show. Disappointingly, Chaz Palminteri, who was very securely "in character" got killed off in Episode 1 by his estranged son, Dylan McDermott, who is about as Italian as St. Patrick. Noticed that David Kelly, the master creator of these shows (Law & Order, Law & Order-UK(superb!), Criminal Intent, SVU, Chicago PD, et al, is now part of a team of 3 producing Organized Crime. That could very well be the issue. To have the first episode of a new series introduce: 1. Main character's wife being murdered a week ago in ROME! 2. Meloni grieving his wife's death and simultaneously dangling living in Rome overlooking a 15th century palazzo to his former partner from SVU. 3. Wife's funeral. 4. Shallow attempt at empathy when asking Palminteri's son's first wife, how long did it take for her to get over her son's recent death. 4. Discovering halfway through that Meloni was not going back to Rome as he announces to his children--especially his son who had thrived there-they are not going back. 5. No "wing man/woman" backing him up. He's an out of control lone ranger in a police procedural, typically built upon relationships with partners, department and team. Am hoping these "hiccups" will smooth out in subsequent episodes. If not, this will be a short run.