Close

Primetime Picks… 3/11/18

Mar 11, 2018 Posted by in Features | Comments

Tonight ABC premieres the new series Deception. Cameron Black (Jack Cutmore-Scott, Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life) is a world class magician who suddenly finds his career rocked by a scandal that also sends someone close to him to prison. Cameron believes it was all a setup, the work of another master illusionist, and makes solving this mystery his primary focus. Cameron soon crosses paths with FBI agent Kay Daniels (Ilfenesh Hadera, Billions, Master of None), offering his services after she appears to have fallen victim to the same illusionist. While Kay claims to dislike magic and not know anything about Cameron’s career, her partner, Mike Alvarez (Amaury Nolasco, Prison Break), is a super-fan who’s excited to have him on board. So Cameron stages his comeback, enlisting the help of his crew—street magician Jordan Monroe (Justin Chon, Dr. Ken, Twilight films), producer/makeup artist Dina Clark (Lenora Crichlow, Being Human), and master prop maker Gunter Gustafsen (Vinnie Jones, Galavant). He puts his talents and manipulation skills to the test to help the FBI crack their case, while also trying to get more information on who set him up.

I grew up watching David Copperfield on TV, and always looked forward to his new specials. I was always fascinated by how he did his tricks. So I was excited when I first learned there was going to be a series about a magician helping to solve crimes. Sure, there was The Mentalist, but he just did some simple sleight of hand or mind tricks—he wasn’t a big stage magician/illusionist. I thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s premiere. The series reminds me of Castle meets Mission: Impossible/The A-Team/Leverage. It has this excellent blend of humor, drama, action and mystery. Each week Cameron uses disguises, magic and misdirection to help the FBI agents solve their case of the week, while at the same time he is exploring a larger arc of trying to prove the innocence of his loved one and catching the elusive illusionist who is helping these criminals. I really like this cast, and it’s especially great to see Vinnie Jones back doing a more comedic role—he was hilarious on Galavant. I’m looking forward to rewatching tonight’s premiere, and checking out the future adventures of these characters.

In tonight’s premiere, “Pilot”, a disgraced magician puts his skills of deception and illusion to work at the FBI.

 
Tonight I’ll also be watching/recording Timeless, Bob’s Burgers, O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession?, The Walking Dead, Worst Cooks in America, and Counterpart.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including NCIS: Los Angeles, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 3/11/18 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.