(CBS - 1968) True Detective (HBO - 2014) Other series

From Hawaii 5-0 to Dexter:
How name heroes evolved in police series throughout time ?
Introduction
NCIS (CBS-2003)
Nowadays, the word hero is often used to talk
about the main character of a TV Series. But is that
always a good choice of words?
NCIS is about a team of
special
agents
which
investigates
crimes
involving the U.S. Navy or
the U.S. Marine Corps.
Since the season 6 (2008)
NCIS is very popular in the
USA.
While years ago main characters where mostly real
heroes, brave, strong and smart, one can notice
that today’s most famous series have introduced a
special kind of main character, that we cannot
really describe as a hero, because it has a lot of
flaws and would hardly be taken as an example.
Here we are focusing on police series, because the
cliché of the flawless detective or police officer
used to be strong in them, but they are more and
more describing more realistic characters, with
instabilities and behavioral issues, for instance.
HAWAII FIVE-O (CBS - 1968)
Hawaii Five-O is an
American police procedural
drama series produced by
CBS
Production
and
Leonard Freeman. It has 12
seasons aired from 1968 to
1980 and continues in
reruns.
The show focuses on
Detective Captain Steve
McGarrett (Jack Lord) who
is head of a special state police task force. He
oversees state police officers – a young officer,
Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua.
For 12 seasons, McGarrett and his team
investigated
“organized
crime,
murder,
assassination attempts, foreign agents, felonies of
every type”.
Detective Captain Steve McGarrett is depicted as a
real hero. He is smart, brave, good team leader
and with a high sense of duty. He matches very
well with the standards of the time when main
characters of police series were “saviors of the
Nation”.
Every member of the team is an important
character and have their particularities, their skills
and their weaknesses. Clearly, L.J. Gibbs, who is
also a former sniper in the U.S. Marines, is the
main character of NCIS. However, he is not
presented as a hero, nor an incredible detective
with extraordinary skills. Besides his weaknesses in
personal life and communication with other
government agencies are depicted. It is rather his
capacity of managing the team and the incredible
team’s synergy which are highlighted. All Together,
the team succeeds in solving crimes and protecting
the USA.
The relationship between the members of the
team are often shown and the viewers see the
complicity and the sense of humor of the team.
However, everything about their private life is not
known and scenes which show their private life are
very rare.
True Detective (HBO - 2014)
True Detective is an
American TV series. The
first season takes place in
Louisiana in 2012. Two
detectives Rust Cohle and
Martin Hartare followed
While trying to solve a
strange case of murder
which occurred in 1995
and they didn’t succeed to
solve at that time. This case has been reopened
after a similar stranger murder occurred.
The two detective have very different way of doing
their job, the main character Rust Cohle (played by
Matthew McConaughey) is a very dark person,
obsessed by his job and with unconventional
methods. His partner, Martin (played by Woody
Harrelson) is a “classic” detective as we can see in
every other series, he has some default but try to
do his job as well as he can, but he won’t do
something he shouldn’t to get a murderer behind
bars.
This series is interesting because of the temper of
the main character, Rust Cohle is a anti-hero which
is really usual for a detective series, he is alcoholic,
selfish, without any code of honours. Moreover,
this series deal an only case during the all first
season.
Dexter (Showtime - 2006)
Dexter is the kind of series
that cannot be watched by
everyone.
Moral values, perception of
violence and the empathy
of the public are really
important when dealing
with this series.
Dexter Morgan is a forensic
analyst at Miami Metro. He
specializes in blood patterns and helps the police
better understand crime scenes.
He is however a psychopath with urges to kill. His
father –a policeman- discovered this when Dexter
was young, and taught him a code: Dexter is to kill
only those who earn it.
Though Dexter always abides by “The Code” and
hold it sacred, he still has a perverse mind. He
hides perfectly what he really to his closest
friends, his sister, his girlfriend. His everyday life is
a constant play, and he effectively plays the role of
a shy, peaceful and sometimes submissive lab
geek.
Dexter is definitely no hero, but still, this
character, with his highly complex mind and many
flaws, is what makes the series so attractive to
many…
Conclusion
The characteristics of the main character in
police series have evolved throughout time, from
a brave and glorious hero to a darker and more
complex personality.
There is no denying that this evolution is linked
to the global transformation of our society. It
would have been impossible to figure on TV a
hero with a gloomy passion for crime and blood
in the 60’s. Nowadays it is not shocking at all, and
following an ambiguous and complex character is
often more appreciated than following a perfect
and smooth superhero.
This phenomenon is not limited to police series.
A few series depict a “non hero” as their main
character. We can think about Frank Underwood
in House Of Cards or Elliott in Mr.Robot. Every
type of series seems to be concerned by this dark
evolution.
Other series
• The Untouchables (ABC 1959)
• Colombo (NBC – 1968)
• Magnum (CBS – 1980)
• Wiseguy (CBS – 1987)
• Homicide : Life on the Street
(NBC – 1993)
• Without A Trace (CBS – 2002)
• CSI : New York (CBS – 2004)
• Bones (Fox – 2005)
• Castle (ABC - 2009)
• Fargo (FX - 2014)
Anna Le Cerf
Jérôme Teytu
Baptiste Durand
Mathias Peluchon