here's a serial killer on the loose in New York City who is targeting the homeless. As the top cops on the force leap into action to find the killer, NYPD detective Jane Porter (Callies) and her partner Sam (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.) can only look on from the sidelines. Their assignment is to deal with a pack of wild dogs that have an affinity for garbage.
Not at all happy about the low-level assignment, the outspoken Sam has his own ideas about how to find the serial killer. In the meantime, they do manage to find the dogs, and something else they never expected—a man. As the man scales a building, Jane follows him over the rooftops. Barely able to keep up, Jane jumps from one building to another and ends up hanging on to a ledge by her fingertips. Just as she's about to fall, he saves her life.
Rather than thank him, Jane wants to arrest the man. However, out of the night comes a helicopter with commandos sliding down ropes, who capture him. While her police captain isn't moved by her concern for this kidnapped man, Jane does have a clue as to how to find him. She saw one of the commandos wearing a patch for Greystoke Industries.
Going right to the top, Jane meets with Greystoke Industries CEO Richard Clayton (Pileggi), who tells her that the man she saw on the roof was actually his nephew John. As a boy, he was lost in the jungle of Africa when a plane carrying him and his parents crashed. Clayton just wants to rehabilitate the young man.
However, Jane learns that Clayton may not quite be the concerned uncle he claims to be. She also discovers that the man she'll come to know as Tarzan (Fimmel) is not so easily caged, and he'll do anything to be near her. That includes taking on Jane's top cop boyfriend, Michael (Johnny Messner), and the serial killer on the loose.
Reimagining a legend for a new generation
The WB's reimagination of the Tarzan legend is very reminiscent of what it did with Smallville and tried to do with Birds of Prey. In this case, they took an especially hunky Tarzan and pitted him against the concrete jungle and a contemporary Jane. Throw in a little family intrigue with more than a little mythology and you have a brand new tapestry for Tarzan to swing through. The resulting series Tarzan is sexy and romantic and action-packed.
Smartly written by co-executive producer Eric Kripke, the Tarzan pilot episode sets the stage, immediately bringing to the surface the attraction between Tarzan and Jane, as well as all the reasons why they should never be together. The other major conflict just begins to play out in the pilot. Tarzan's Uncle Richard, played by Mitch Pileggi (using more expression in this one episode than he did in the entire run of The X-Files), is nicely ominous. He may indeed have good intentions or he may not. Filling out the cast in the future will be Lucy Lawless as Richard's sister Kathleen. According to the producers, the battle between Kathleen and Richard will be over Tarzan, his soul and control of Greystoke Industries.
Underwear model Travis Fimmel takes on the role of Tarzan, and there's no doubt he has the physical presence needed for the character. He has been handicapped with dialogue that doesn't use contractions, which makes his speech seem stilted. There's not a lot of it, and hopefully the writers will toss out that little device quickly. Stage actress Sarah Wayne Callies plays Jane with just the right note of confidence and uncertainty that make her believable as a cop and yet also a woman who is torn between two men. Callies and Fimmel are way too pretty, but they have good chemistry together and it should be fun to watch the dance they'll do as the series evolves.
As a backdrop for the series, the production values are outstanding. Whether Tarzan is leaping across rooftops or hanging from a gargoyle to hide from the bad guys, New York has never looked better. Also of special note is the style in which Tarzan fights. Very apelike, this cool form of fighting is unique and gives the series a distinctive feel of its own.
