User Reviews

Well, I guess this excellent show was thrown on to the mile high heap of other shows which the network felt were not making enough money for them. I am positive, that if it had run more recently and then got canned, it would have wound up on DVD, but it has been forgotten about. On Wikipedia, and elsewhere I have seen the term, "Under Suspicion" used to describe the other characters reactions to detective Rose Phillips, (Karen Sillas) being a female detective on the job with the big boys. I think the title may be a double entendre, because the whole precinct that she worked in was, "Under Suspicion" by internal affairs, thus the name of the show. In most of the episodes the police were interviewed one by one - a different cop in every episode. It was done in the dark room, with the bright light in the center, reminding the viewer of classic, Cagney, film noir. That added a very nerve-wracking quality to the show, because every cop new that at any time, he might be fired or even indicted. As a result everyone was always on edge to an unusual degree and more than anyone, this included the viewer. The color pallet, was blue tinted with high contrast and laid back.

The episode entitled, "A Haunting Case" (Episode 1-14) was both one of the creepiest, and also tasteful episodes that I've ever seen on T.V. It starts with the song by Donovan, "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and the camera does a very slow pan from the harbor up to the victim. You never see the whole victim laying there, but rather three separate shots. What is left to your imagination is not only more unsettling, but to me far more sympathetic and respectful to the victim than showing the whole body. You see the expressions on the faces of the other detectives before Rose gets there. These are battle hardened police, and when you see an ever so slight wince on one of their faces, you know that Rose and the viewer are going to be in for a tough time. The perpetrator is possibly the same person who did a similar crime exactly 20 years ago hence many flashbacks to the cops when they were much younger, including one who made a terrible technical mistake. The appropriate music of that time is used. It was a very effective episode. It brings out many different thoughts, and emotions from those of us who were early 20ish back then.

I remember the fall preview write-up for this show. The people who wrote it at T.V. Guide liked the show very much. They described Det. Rose Phillips as, "...possibly a bit too hard boiled for the average viewer." Then again......if she wasn't hard boiled, she could not have functioned as a homicide detective.

It's truly a shame that CBS cancelled this show. As has been mentioned by other folks here, Under Suspicion was intelligently written with superb performances to match. I can only echo that in my own rather plain way. Brilliant scripts and acting, of course, is usually instant recipe for cancellation. It wasn't until NBC's 'Boomtown' came 'round that I found a 'cop' drama worthy of watching. They axed that one too. (Actually, 'High Incident' was darned good, too, but it also had a short shelf life.) I'd love to have Under Suspicion on DVD, since the station that carried it locally never showed all the episodes.

(SPOILER)

In my restless searching for any episode info, I leaned in the season 1 finale, 'Phil' was shot by a bullet meant for a colleague. Word from the network was if the show didn't return for a second season, we could assume she didn't survive. How harsh is that?