Fox's "Shots Fired" Tackles Explosive Issues from All Sides

Sanaa Lathan whoamp8217s very accomplished but I recognized her as the heroamp8217s mom in 1998amp8217s Blade plays Ashe Akino a rougharoundtheedges DOJ investigator and excop with a rocky past and present apparently Stephan James pictured at top with Lathan plays Preston Terry a bythebook rookie lawyer also working for the Department of Justice who kind of acts as the showamp8217s moral compass amp160Ashe and Preston have been paired by their employer and tasked with investigating the shooting of an unarmed man by a police officer in a small southern town The twist Contrary to the unfortunate norm this time a black police officer has gunned down an unarmed white college student Now this one detail may be the only thing separating this fictional incident from the tragic stories seen all too often in our reallife news feeds but it reinforces the underlying theme that Shots seem to push These situations should all be looked at objectively before conclusions are drawnThis idea is further supported by the showamp8217s ability to show every character in multiple dimensions For example part of Asheamp8217s draw is the fact that sheamp8217s an outspoken wildcard While visiting her daughter at her exhusbandamp8217s house her visit is cut short by his current wife who insists quite rudely that itamp8217s bedtime instead of allowing them fives more minutes of mommydaughter time You know the way a human being would Normally this is the part where I scream inside while I watch the person on TV just take that kind of blatant disrespect on the chin but much to my pleasant surprise Ashe doesnamp8217t play that shit She calmly says good night to her daughter closes the door and immediately chucks a vase at the wall behind Mommy Dearest just missing her headGranted this obviously wasnamp8217t the sanest move in the world but it felt like emotional justice to watch her throw caution to the wind and react the way any parent would at least want to react in that moment Sheamp8217s a rebel in the workplace too In classic 80amp8217s cop style sheamp8217s a rebellious badass who talks slick takes no shit and gets results even if she has to get her hands dirtyOn the flipside we see over time that whenever she isnamp8217t working she seems to be unraveling On the job sheamp8217s capable and focused but during every second of her personal life sheamp8217s a loose cannon continually failing to contain the angry and violent outbursts sheamp8217s apparently been having since a traumatic incident during her cop days This makes that little flash of crazy that was initially endearing seem like kind of a red flag and the fact that it never affects her work suggests these dangerous highstakes situations are the only times she feels comfortable in her own skinThe same goes for Preston Terry who chose a life in the legal field as opposed to the baseball field His brother who chose a life of sports is now a famous NFL player who seems to hold the majority share of their fatheramp8217s admiration Turns out this may be the reason for the rift in Preston and his brotheramp8217s relationship and the reason why Preston seems to yearn for his fatheramp8217s approval This need to prove himself becomes very intriguing when considered during scenes where he and Ashe bump heads Yes heamp8217s a rookie in the law game and itamp8217s obvious heamp8217s intelligent clever and confident but could his confidence be a cover for the fact that he needs to validate his career choice to both himself and his father Maybe Iamp8217m no shrinkThe point being made here is that we couldamp8217ve easily been fed the usual Odd Coupley lawyercop team up show we always get but these characters have depthItamp8217s not just them either The officer in question Deputy Joshua Beck played by Tristan Mack Wilds of VH1amp8217s dope The Breaks pictured above left with Lathan and James has so far been depicted as a genuinely good person In light of the shooting the media absolutely crucifies him for a leaked video of him making a racist joke the day he received his badge where he called it a amp8220license to kill these crackersamp8221 amp160This turn of events made me consider the idea that out of all the police shootings in the real world there have to have been at least one or two instances where the officers responsible weren39t racist monsters like the media said but rather people who were doing their jobs when things went sidewaysBeckamp8217s superior Lieutenant Breeland played by True Bloodamp8217s Stephen Moyer seems to have Deputy Beckamp8217s back but he also has moments where his morality and whether or not heamp8217s a racist become questionable Aisha Hinds who plays Harriet Tubman on Underground is local Pastor Janae James She too initially seems to have good intentions as she attempts to bring the neighborhood together and protest the disparagement of the lower class Again given some time we learn that she might be doing all of this in an attempt to build a reputation for herself as a community leader a realization that muddies the supposed purity of her motivesI could go all day about the many ways this show has surprised me but Iamp8217d rather people just watched it If thereamp8217s one thing to take away from Shots Fired itamp8217s the idea that human beings are complicated and oversimplifying them only adds to the epidemic of dehumanization and prejudice that divides us all todayShots gives you the facts shows you people not caricatures of people and allows viewers to make up their own minds None of the questions or talking points raised take away from the seriesamp8217 entertaining plot and pace or the intrigue of its characters Whether or not this show will ever end up taking a side on any of the issues it presents is an interesting question itself and itamp8217s one I intend to answer in a future columnquotShots Firedquot is telecast Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on FoxClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160

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Fox's "Shots Fired" Tackles Explosive Issues from All Sides

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Ainsley Andrade

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 6) - By Carl Mayer

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Fox's "Shots Fired" Tackles Explosive Issues from All Sides

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Ainsley Andrade

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 6) - By Carl Mayer

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