Television Crime Shows

Narrative

Two basic types – single episodes with clear resolutions, like Wallander or Lewis; series with multi-episodes, like The Wire or The Killing. Occasionally, there are hybrids of the two: some series, like CSI with their serial killer stories, for example, may have more than one crime per episode and one storyline may be carried on over several episodes or even, on and off, throughout the series. A series with a larger cast, such a Homicide: Life on the Street, may feature two or three investigations per episode but may also feature elements of a long-running storyline.

b. Narratives are often organised around binary opposites – good versus evil; cops versus villains, honest cops versus dishonest cops, private detectives against villains; private detective detectives against dishonest cops or politicians – and so on. Sometimes it involves the conflict between partners – even if that conflict could simply be seen as a disagreement – you can see this on shows like Lewis or The Killing (although in this case, they can be played out against more serious conflicts with higher authority or politicians or the criminals. Or all three!) but the flexibility of the genre means that crime shows are often not that simple. Take The Wire, for example, where there is conflict between Jimmy McNulty and some of his colleagues as to how to tackle the crime and there is also conflict between his team and his bosses, some of whom believe they are wasting their time.

c. There’s the approach of the long-running franchise Law and Order, including the various versions made around the world, whereby the police characters investigate the crime and the story moves on the legal aspects of the case before going to court.

d. Many series favour the kind of complicated narrative that often involves a crime that is more complex than it at first seems. Take CSI, for example, which usually features a handful of suspects who are shown in imaginary crime reconstructions based on possible interpretations of the forensic evidence, before some clue emerges that finally points to the real perpetrator.

e. The private detective show, following its literary model, often opens with deceptively simple case for the investigator that becomes complex and life-threatening and often brings the protagonist not only up against a powerful villain, but also against elements of a corrupt law and order system. You can see this in shows like Sherlock.

f. Occasionally the narrative is more complex, taking in the legal and political system, like the French show Spiral or the even more complex The Wire, which examines the role of drugs in the economy of Baltimore and the drug trade as a foundation for political ambition, which, in turn leads to conflict with more honest political leaders and forms the background against which the police, honest and corrupt, work. The final series focussed on the role of the Baltimore press and how far it was prepared to go to speak out against crime and corruption.