Day Break: Pilot

Day Break: Pilot
ABC
November 15, 2006
Crime Drama, Sci-Fi
DVD
B-

These are the performers who would return:

• John Antonini as Uniformed Cop
• Adam Baldwin as Chad Shelten
• Jonathan Banks as Shadow Man
• Moon Bloodgood as Rita Shelten
• Kwesi Boakye as James Mathis
• Thomas Wilson Brown as Grocery Store Deputy
• Ian Anthony Dale as Detective Christopher Choi
• Josh Daugherty as Preisser
• Taye Diggs as Detective Brett Hopper
• Don Franklin as Randall Mathis
• Meta Golding as Jennifer Mathis
• Nick Hermz as Razi
• LaNiesha-Jopré Irvin as Whitney Mathis
• Chane't Johnson as Neesha
• Akie Kotabe as Honda Driver
• Kamal Marayati as Zeitoun
• Michael McGrady as Buchalter
• Joe Nieves as Fencik
• Mitch Pileggi as Detective Spivak
• Victoria Pratt as Andrea Battle
• Ramon Rodriguez as Damien Ortiz
• Clayton Rohner as Surfer Dude
• John Rubinstein as Barry Colburn
• Michael B. Silver as Baxter
• Bahar Soomekh as Margo

I was honestly on the C/C+ fence for much of this episode.  Crime dramas usually aren't my thing, as you know, and the hero, a good LA cop played by likable Diggs, seemed to be in a hopeless situation.  Even when it turned out that he was trapped in a tragic version of Groundhog Day, I couldn't see how he could get out of this mess of being framed for a murder and having his loved ones threatened or actually harmed.  But when the third day broke, I felt like Hopper was trying to think his way through this, find alternative plans.  And I was drawn in enough that a B- felt fair and, yes, I just might watch this to the end of its very short run (thirteen episodes).

Series creator Paul Zbyszewski wrote this and four other episodes.  Rob Bowman would later direct the Castle episode I looked at, but I won't hold that against him.