You can practically feel the humidity and corruption radiating from the town of San Bonifacio, Texas, in the engrossing crime drama Briarpatch, based loosely on Ross Thomas' Edgar-winning 1984 novel. Creator Andy Greenwald, who previously worked on Legion and spent many years as a TV critic, clearly knows his detective fiction, both on the page and on the screen, and he effectively deploys the conventions of the genre while adding in just the right of surrealism. Both Legion creator Noah Hawley and Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail (who's an executive producer here) have obviously influenced Greenwald, and Briarpatch should similarly appeal to genre fans who are looking for something more than just a straightforward mystery.
But at least in the first half of its 10-episode season, it's much more coherent and accessible than those other shows, while maintaining a sense of playfulness and visual creativity. The show that Briarpatch most closely resembles at this point is Hawley's Fargo, and it's also meant as the launchpad for an anthology series (although exactly what form future seasons will take is not clear). For now, the show follows Allegra Dill (Rosario Dawson), a government investigator who returns to her Texas hometown following the murder of her sister Felicity, a local police officer.
Allegra comes to town to mourn her sister and solve the mystery of who killed Felicity, but San Bonifacio is conveniently also the home of someone that Allegra is looking into on behalf of her Senator boss. Jake Spivey (Jay R. Ferguson) also happens to be Allegra's childhood best friend, making her potential investigation of him even more complicated. As Allegra delves into the town's various levels of corruption and secrecy, it becomes clear that Felicity's death and the investigation into Spivey (a former arms dealer accused of colluding with an even slimier arms dealer to steal weapons from the U.S. government) are somehow intertwined.
The thorny overarching conspiracy is no surprise in a noir-ish story like this, but Greenwald and his team handle it intelligently and entertainingly, populating the town with colorful supporting characters, all of whom have something to hide. Jake is an over-the-top good ol' boy with a thick accent and a sweet spot for Allegra, even if she's trying to get him indicted by the U.S. Congress. Edi Gathegi plays Allegra's one true ally (or so it seems), lawyer A.D. Singe, who was Felicity's friend and is just as motivated to get to the truth about her death. Kim Dickens plays the deceptively folksy chief of police, who speaks glowingly about Felicity but is clearly hiding something. And Alan Cumming, Ed Asner, David Paymer and Peter Stormare (speaking of Fargo) all show up in amusing roles as shady characters of various types.
Dawson holds it all together as the fiercely capable Allegra, who resents having to return to San Bonifacio, the town she hoped to leave behind forever, but isn't willing to leave until she gets answers to all her questions and holds the right people accountable for her sister's murder. Allegra is sympathetic but ruthless, willing to sell out her oldest friend if it means accomplishing what her boss in D.C. (as represented by an aloof, sinister Senatorial aide who seems to be able to materialize at will) wants. She becomes more conflicted about the case and about San Bonifacio as the series progresses, and she opens up to Singe and a few other seemingly well-meaning residents.
No one is what they seem, of course, not even Allegra, and that's what drives the plot, even if it can feel a bit stretched out over the course of 10 episodes. Greenwald moves the story from an unnamed location (probably Oklahoma City) to the Texas-Mexico border and from 1984 to the present day, and connects it to contemporary social issues, not all of which completely come together (a subplot about undocumented immigrants feels awkwardly inserted, at least thus far). He also switches the lead character's gender, and making Allegra a woman gives her another outsider element to put her at a distance from the people she's investigating.
Like Hawley's Fargo, Briarpatch adds touches of magical realism to its crime story, many of them courtesy of the escaped zoo animals roaming the town, the result of a break-out that occurred before Allegra arrived (one of the first things she sees in town is a rogue kangaroo shot dead in the middle of the street). Jake's sprawling estate, paid for with what is implied to be blood money, is a cartoonish caricature of Southern wealth, and the show's visual style (established by pilot director Ana Lily Amirpour) is full of rich colors and creative shot compositions. The actors take their cues from the visuals, delivering bold, quirky performances that retain a core of realism.
There are still a lot of elements to fit together as the series hits its halfway point, and Greenwald may not be able to bring them all to a satisfying close. Still, the anthology format at least ensures that there will be some sort of resolution to the mystery, and whether future seasons follow Allegra Dill to a new location, or present a new mystery under the sweaty Southwestern sun, Briarpatch has established a promising style for modern-day noir.
Starring Rosario Dawson, Jay R. Ferguson, Edi Gathegi, Brian Geraghty and Kim Dickens, Briarpatch premieres Thursday on USA at 10 p.m. ET/PT.