Today on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, I'm previewing the engrossing new FX series Lights Out, which you can read and hear about about 4 p.m. ET by clicking HERE. It's a show about a heavyweight boxer, but it's really a show about a family man pulled in several directions at once, a guy faced with several unattractive options for his future, and a man who isn't sure where his money went, or how to get more of it.
In other words, it's a fairly universal story...
Holt McCallany, in a defining role, stars as aging boxer Patrick "Lights" Leary, who walked away from the sport, at the behest of his wife (Catherine McCormack), after a brutal loss. For five years, he's been a loyal househusband, living off his heavyweight title purse and providing his spouse and daughters with the good things in life. He carries new boxing gloves in his trunk, to sign as an instant get-out-of-trouble-free card -- but his cruise-control approach to life after boxing changes suddenly when his ex-boxer brother, now his business manager, admits that the money is gone. Their father, who runs the local boxing gym paid for by Patrick, has no idea, and Patrick doesn't want to tell him.
That's just the start of this new series, created by Warren Leight, who wrote the wonderful play Side Man. Before long, Patrick considers doing things for money that he once would have refused, and gets involved with shady promoters and shadier mob types. For Patrick, the road to redemption may mean mounting a comeback in the ring -- but are his father (Stacy Keach) and brother (Pablo Schreiber) in his corner, literally? And even if they are, does Patrick want them there?
I've seen the entire 13-episode first season of this series, and it gets better, more intense and less predictable with each hour. TV WORTH WATCHING viewers are likely to recognize several of the cracklingly good supporting players -- he's from The Wire! He's from Oz! -- but one thing you'll recognize, for certain, is how captivating Lights Out quickly becomes.
After seeing one full season, I already want a rematch.