French police drama Spiral is to be remade for an American audience. But will a new version of the BBC4 cop show prove to be a success?
With The Killing remake's botched finale disappointing fans and critics alike in the States, these are dicey times for American remakes of foreign language TV shows. But BBC America is showing no fear ? embarking upon a reimagining of Engrenages, the gripping French cop drama that BBC4 viewers know better as Spiral. Set in Philadelphia, the show is being developed by Sam Mendes' Neal Street Productions which is also behind current BBC1 hit Call the Midwife.
Even when remakes look unlikely to work, they still hold a fascination for fans. That's partly because of a mawkish, misplaced optimism, but also because of the fantasy casting ? I can already see Kristen Bell as Berthaud, The Wire's Domenick Lombardozzi as Gilou, The Good Wife's Matt Czuchry as Cl�ment and Mad Men's Christina Hendricks as Karlsson. Such a magnificent line up, however, couldn't convince me that Engrenages is a show that needs remaking. Not least because the original remains in rude health with a strong third series fresh in the memory, and a fourth currently in production.
Watching Berthaud and her crew of sometimes shady cops it has often struck me that Spiral closely resembles The Shield ? suspect abuse, evidence tampering and adrenaline fuelled risk-taking all in the name of getting punks off the streets. The gang mentality of Berthaud's CID feels much like that of Vic Mackey's strike team; a group of hopelessly compromised characters held together by the certain knowledge that each one could destroy the others. But if Engrenages is the French version of The Shield, then isn't an American remake a particularly barren redundancy?
Maybe not. Meredith Stiehm's involvement is a good sign. An Emmy-winning writer on NYPD Blue, she also has recent credits on the acclaimed Homeland, which arrives on More 4 in February. The adaptation throws some interesting challenges her way ? differences between the French and US legal systems means there's no direct equivalent of investigating magistrate Judge Roban, an essential component of the French drama, which means exploring the show's themes via a different legal apparatus. Still, there's definitely scope to throw light on how the legal/political wheels of a big American city are greased, something The Chicago Code did with at least some success.
But for the show to be credible long-term it's got to aspire to the storytelling principles of Engrenages and The Shield. Shawn Ryan's genius is in making sure his characters get what they deserve ? everything that happens to The Shield's Shane, Vic, Lem and Ronnie can be traced back to their actions in the pilot; every cover-up, beatdown and horrible venal transgression they committed subsequently contributes to their ultimate fate. Likewise, if Spiral's Gilou scores some coke or Roban puts work ahead of love, you can be certain it will come back to haunt them.
The biggest mistake the US remake can make is to take its lead from recent seasons of Dexter, where bad actions have no lasting consequences ? that way lies bleak clock-punching procedural and the gates of TV hell. But if it takes the structural strengths of Engrenages, builds a convincing Philadelphia around them and retains the spirit of the original they have a fighting chance of making this remake a success.
Am I naive to think they might actually pull it off? Will Berthaud's beaucoup de blunders translate well to an American audience? And who would you cast in the US show? Let us know what you think
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/jan/26/spiral-us-remake
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