‘Tommy’ Pilot Review: Abigail Thomas is a punch in the face of a misogynistic, bigoted society we live in today
“If I fail this, it will be another 20 years before they make a woman the chief of police", says Abigail Thomas (Edie Falco), LAPD’s newest Chief of Police. Now is that food for thought or not?
Despite welcoming the year 2020 we are still living in a society where gender equality, sexual rights and social inclusion still need to be fought for and all that so we could just thrive in a peaceful, all-encompassing environment. But unfortunately, our social leaders have other plans. Even though hundreds and millions of people are standing up against such madness, we have not moved much farther. Hence, the arts. Yes, believe it or not, art has a strange and passive way of influencing people and even if not influencing, it at least makes their eyes open wider and see what’s going wrong.
CBS's new show ‘Tommy’ fits this bill perfectly. A show that is woke and probably a bit far-fetched for the network’s target audience, is primarily driven at upholding justice in an unjust American society of today. But a show cannot just do it through its story, it has to be done by the one that leads it. Introducing Abigail Thomas, aka, Tommy- LAPD’s latest recruit as the Chief of Police. The very fact that she’s the first woman in the force in one of the country’s largest cities, speaks volumes of where we stand as a society.
In simpler words, the plotline of ‘Tommy’ fulfills the classic, ‘case of the day’ format, while simultaneously weaving a constant thread of our lead protagonist’s journey. There’s nothing new there. What’s unique as we have found so far, is how it is designed to be socially conscious and hitting hard at the pressing social issues like gender inequality in corporate life, sexual harassment, political corruption, LGBTQ rights, and pseudo feminism that is stifling society day in and out.
Moving on, we must spend a minute talking about Abigail and how wonderfully Edie Falco has fitted herself in her shoes.
Tommy starts her journey without any pretext. She dives straight into an immigration riot that sees ICE and the LAPD on opposite sides. Thanks to a cooperative and liberal-minded mayor, she gets to keep her stand. But how many times can reality be that satisfying? Tommy’s character sketch is brilliant in every right! She is a woman of steel and self-assured where she needs to be and yet vulnerable in her personal space.
A sexual assault survivor and a proud lesbian, Tommy encompasses all the ingredients of an aspirational character that is generation agnostic. A self-proclaimed “bad mother”, she also struggles to iron the creases between her and her estranged daughter. She stands for justice but don’t even think for once that she is your typical, preachy philosopher who would make big talks about what we should and should not have. Rather, she is quirky and witty and is an absolute no-frills, no-nonsense woman, who will get things done with less talk.
With social justice and “doing the right thing” as her weapons, Tommy has managed to get a fan following in the very first episode and we can only hope for it to grow. Whether you are a fan of crime procedural, women in power or shows that explore system injustice and social wokeness, ‘Tommy’ is sure to resonate with you, provided you don’t look at this through right-winged glasses.
‘Tommy’ airs every Thursday at 10pm/9pm only on CBS.
