Vegas Review: Gangsters and Cowboys don't mix

Vegas season 1 Review

Just like everyone else the reason i was drawn to watch Vegas was Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis. I liked most of the movies Dennis Quaid took part in and Michael Chiklis was awesome in the Shield, so I knew I’m going to watch Vegas without any clue what’s it all about.

When I tuned in for the first episode I discovered that the main plot puts Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis on two opposite sides of the story. Dennis Quaid is a stiff but sharp Sheriff Ralph Lamb while Michael Chiklis is a gangster who runs a local casino. Savino (Chiklis) is not portrayed as a villain throughout the first half of the season, he seems like a guy that is trying to be a legit business man but Rizzo is always in his way. The mob sucks him back into the criminal world which he tries to avoid at any cost.

Every episode is a standalone chapter of the story. In every episode there is a murder or other kind of a crime and our gang of cowboy sheriff's with a help from the district attorney assistant Katherine O'Connell (Matrix's own Carrie-Anne Moss) try to solve it. Almost every crime brings our public servants to the steps of the Savoy which is run by our local gangster (Savino). What makes the confrontation between the mobsters and the cops fun every time. The credit is to Michael Chiklis who finds a way to make me smile every time when the Sheriff’s keep on playing the same broken record for Savino's arrest.

There were a few things that bothered me in Vegas:

1. Dixon Lamb – they tried to showcase this guy as a rising star in the sheriff department. As if he was born for this job. The problem was that I didn't connect with his character and the push that he got as a young super cop hurt my eyes.
2. Jack Lamb – throughout the entire season Jack (Jason O'Mara) was in the shadows behind his brother Ralph. Generally I wouldn't mind, it was his character’s purpose and that’s OK but it was showcased so much that even a blind guy would notice that fact. Other than being his brother’s shadow Jack didn't do much, except Mia Rizzo and killing her old man towards the middle of the season but that was too late and too little in my opinion.
3. Mia Rizzo – Sarah Jones performance in Vegas was seen as not natural. Sarah is ~ 30 years old in Vegas she was portrayed as 25 and her character Mia Rizzo conducted herself as if she was 40-50. She was too smart for her age and it was difficult to except this kind of a mature character trapped in a body of 25 year old.

Vegas final words

I enjoyed watching Vegas most of the time (mostly in the beginning). I don't think that Vegas can be called as a cool show because i was left with the feeling that towards the end of the season the show started to loose the momentum it never had. The writers ran out of material at the middle and the show was running on fumes the last few episodes. I know that CBS cancelled Vegas and from what i saw it wont be missed.

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About Sasha Shapiro

Sasha is the founder and editor of Cool Reviews Rule. He is very passionate about Movies, TV Shows and some Books. His favorite genres are: Action, Fantasy, History, Horror, Sci-fi and Adventure.
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