SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Anna Pigeon Season 1, Episode 1.
Anna Pigeon recaptures the spark and joy of USA‘s blue-sky era. Starting with a career best performance by Tracy Spiridakos, this crime drama has the perfect balance between procedural whodunit and playful adventure. Fans of Nevada Barr’s novels will be thrilled by “Track of the Cat,” but the TV version should make a lot of new fans, too.
“Track of the Cat” is a pilot that rarely feels like a pilot. There are a few moments where it’s obvious that the script is dishing out backstory about who’s who, but it’s never heavy-handed. Showrunner Morwyn Brebner also doesn’t feel the need to constantly claw for the audience’s attention; the plot moves at its own pace. There may not be a jaw-dropping fourth-act twist, but there doesn’t need to be. That particular trend got old a long time ago, and Anna Pigeon‘s payoff is in the satisfaction that the audience feels seeing the bad guy get arrested by the Montana state troopers.
That success is owed to Chicago PD alum Spiridakos, who is truly front and center here. She’s the engine that drives the Anna Pigeon premiere. Anyone who watches enough crime shows knows the broad strokes of Anna: here’s another genre hero with a tragic past, who deals with that tragedy through drinking and casual sex, and throws out plenty of witty one-liners. But the character feels fresh because of Spiridakos’ talent. Everyone who’s seen any of her TV roles knows how tough she is, but she also brings a warmth that makes the funnier and more vulnerable moments work. Nothing ever feels like Spiridakos is posturing.
The Anna Pigeon series premiere doesn’t leave a ton of room for Anna’s supporting cast, but an early standout is Ronnie Rowe, Jr. (When I Said I Do) as her FBI contact Frederick Stanton. Brebner gives Stanton a fantastic introduction—foiling an attempted robbery like it bores him—and Rowe is pitch-perfect in that scene. It immediately establishes that Stanton is someone the audience wants to know in his own right, while Rowe forms an engaging double act with Spiridakos. It helps that Brebner gives them jokes that don’t come off as jokes; the humor in Anna Pigeon is so organic, instead of the “here’s the obligatory funny banter moment” of almost every other TV crime drama.
And that is the true charm of Anna Pigeon. Yes, this is a crime procedural, and yes, it’s another of the countless book-to-screen adaptations that are ridiculously commonplace these days. But there’s so much genuine fun in the first episode, from individual lines seemingly out of nowhere (“So how’s your divorce going?”) to notes in the performances of the actors (welcome Sons of Anarchy‘s Kim Coates as a villain that audience members already love to hate, because he may as well be twirling that mustache). This is a world that viewers want to be a part of, so when they get to that scene of Anna watching her colleague Harlan get arrested, they feel something too. And they want to know what comes next.
There are certain limitations. For example, the literal cliffhanger in the middle of “Track of the Cat” has a certain degree of false jeopardy, as fans know Anna Pigeon isn’t going to kill off Anna Pigeon in the first episode. And some of the plot twists do feel familiar, from the killer being one of the park rangers to Anna’s husband’s death being set up as a recurring subplot. But if this premiere isn’t reinventing the wheel, it still feels fresh because of that sense of fun and adventure. Brebner delivers a first murder mystery that lets her actors shine rather than trying to fake out the audience, while Lea Thompson creates the sense of grandeur one expects from a show taking place in and around a national park. (USA also deserves a shoutout for doing the same post-episode behind the scenes snippets that they did with The Rainmaker, as it’s a pleasure to hear Thompson’s insight after the pilot ends.)
Between Anna Pigeon and The Rainmaker, USA has two solid original series that bring back memories of the network’s glory days. Anna Pigeon would fit right in next to Burn Notice or White Collar; maybe it could eventually be paired with the long-discussed White Collar revival. At least it reminds TV audiences that a great show doesn’t need to be packed with plot twists, or constantly fast-paced, or have a gimmick. There’s something to be said for a series that’s just a really fun, enjoyable show that puts a smile on everyone’s face, and Anna Pigeon is that show right from the beginning.
Anna Pigeon airs Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on USA. Photo Credit: Michelle Faye/Courtesy of Versant Media.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
