The premiere of ABC’s killer series Wicked City has TV critics shaking their heads with disappointment. After reading various reviews about the pilot episode for the show, critics made it appear that everyone is ready for the murder and serial killer drama fad to end.
Wicked City is set in the prime of rock n’ roll music of the early 80s’ at the heart of Los Angeles nightlife, at the infamous Sunset Strip. Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) plays a smooth serial-killer criminal named Kent Grainger, who sets out to find his victims in nightclubs located on the strip. During one of his nights on the strip, Kent meets Betty Beaumontaie played by Erika Christensen (Parenthood) and forms a romantic connection with her, wanting to share his lifestyle by convincing himself it will be something she will enjoy. Betty becomes intrigued by Kent’s mysterious charisma, and unknowingly agrees to become apart of his dark and corrupt lifestyle.
Kent’s captures the attention of young women who desire fame and fortune through his whit and charm, but his murders crimes capture the attention of Los Angeles detective Jack Roth, played by Jeremy Sisto (Law and Order). Detective Jack makes it his mission to stop the serial-killer’s sinful ways, however viewers soon discover that the “good cop” is also living an unorthodox life as well. In order to find the killer, Jack finds himself seeking help from rookie reporter Karen McClaren played by Tassia Farimga (American Horror Stories), and rebellious photographer Diver Hawkes played by Evan Ross (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part1).
Sounds like a show that would have you on the edge of your seats, right? Well, critics believe that this show will more so have people sleeping in their seats. In spite of these reviews, after watching the pilot it could not be farther from the truth. Wicked City is filled with unexpected twists and turns that leave viewers at the edge of their seats in anticipation. This new murder drama has the potential to be a very successful show, with its cast and series plot.
ABC is notorious for having these type of murder based crime show and it would appear that its views might be getting “tired” of the same old defective catches criminal story. However, Wicked City’s audience is not directed toward your typical ABC watcher, which is considered to be a middle aged married women with children. Based off of the show’s cast and time period alone this show more so seems to target a younger audience, more specifically younger women in college who are starting to venture off from the typical teenage programing that would appear on networks such as MTV or VH1.
Two main reasons why it could be argued that the target generation isn’t your typical ABC audience are because of the time periods setting and the casting of the bad boy. Today’s generation of young adults has a slight 80s’ obsession making Wicked City appealing to the target audience the show is trying to reach. In regards to cast, Westwick was casted as the ideal bad boy because the shows target audience recognizes him from his previous bad boy role as Chuck Bass.
Tune in Tuesdays at 10|9 C on ABC to watch the latest episodes and catch up on previous episodes online at ABC.com.