I could easily get into a show like this. As a matter of fact, I had no problem getting into "Burn" from Thor Moreno, who wrote and directed. A series like this has the potential to go a long way, although it's near impossible to get past the major resemblance to "The Sopranos" that happens to be another show I loved. "Burn" however, is more product focused, with the "hands in many cookie jars" mentality Tony Soprano represented, cast aside almost completely. Ultimately this could lead to a great dramatic production, and the seeds of a troubled family life are already planted... and simply begging to be explored more. Personally? I can't wait. The double-crossing nature promised by Thor Moreno could easily, when added to the mob-ish style of the production, make this one hell of a series to watch and root for. Of that I have no doubt. The nutshell version of the story so far? The Father of the Walsh family dies leaving behind his small trucking company. By the way, the real money made from the company does not involve carting toys or electronics. This family business hauls dope to make it's green. More specifically, pot. Leon, portrayed by James Serpento, as the head of the family, struggles with the pressures of the other family members, to sell the trucking company and go legit. Adding to the pressure, a rival outfit has decided that the death of Leon's Father signals the end of the Walsh business. They decide to move in with an offer to sell the trucking company, and territory to them... or else. What follows is exactly what you think would follow, given the type of show this is. Honestly? This may not be the most original of plot ideas... but it works. When done right, and when interesting characters and individual situations are involved... it almost always works. Everyone loves a crime drama right? The fact this one also happens to be "based" on a true story makes it even better. However, things are not all roses. The first fifteen minutes or so of "Burn" by no means dictated how I felt by the end of the pilot episode. If I could have rated this show by the second half alone, I would have scored it higher. A few things simply were not working for me at the start. First off, the characters felt very scripted with the dialog. More on that below, but for now, let me just say things were rocky to say the least. Little things, such as seeing background performers speaking but not hearing their voices, within the first few minutes, to dialog that simply felt put together wrong. That was the kind of stuff that got to me. By the second half of the show, one of two things happened. Things just naturally fell into place as the technical team became more comfortable, as did the cast - Or, I simply warmed up to the characters and show itself. We all know pilot episodes are tough. Pick your favorite television show and think back to when you watched that first episode. I can almost guarantee you probably didn't like it anywhere near as much as you did as the show continued. It sometimes takes a while, to get to know these particular people. I have not forgotten that. The other possibility, and the one I feel may be the case... was the editing of the show itself. I wrote above that before "Burn" was finished, my thoughts on it had completely changed. However, even by that point, conversations between characters still felt hollow or scripted at times. Why do I bring up the video editor? It's the way the edits were handled. The video editor is one of the least noticed... yet most important part of the post-production process. When all is good, we don't think of them at all. When things turn sour... well, you get the idea. The major problem with "Burn" is the: one - two nature of the conversations. Generally, people don't always wait for one and other to finish a sentence, before adding their two cents. Or, if they do wait... the response is very... very quick. Overlapping words and messy responses are the way we speak to one and other. In "Burn" however, almost all the dialog comes in a "one, two, three, one, two, three" kind of way. Here is where the editor should take these conversations, and edit them to flow more naturally. Here is where, I think, "Burn" fails ever so slightly. I truly don't feel it's the cast that can't act... because some damn fine performances exist... I simply feel some more polish should have been given to the edit itself. And even then, I'm not talking about the entire edit... most of it was great... I'm simply writing about the conversations. Overall, "Burn" is an ambitious production. All these characters and the general concept usually requires a lot of cash. Probably much... much more than this production had. The hard work and "thinking outside the box" has clearly paid off. This really was a good show! A surprisingly entertaining one. Technical elements can be worked out. A bad series simply can't. This show truly does have the potential to go a long way. For an indie pilot to entice me as much as this one did... is simply weird. I'll have to revisit this review once I watch more episodes. Would I recommend? You're darn tootin' I would. Give "Burn" twenty minutes of your time and I almost guarantee you'll stick around for the rest. Nice work guys and gals.
