Detroit 1-8-7 coins my favorite new term of 2011

This police procedural set and shot in the city of Detroit has really grown on me and become one of my new favorites from the fall of 2010. Of course, I’m trying to play it coy and not get too attached as ABC is famous for pulling the plug on great shows before they are able to build any kind of traction. My heart has been broken before (RIP ‘Cupid,’ the original drama from the late 90’s with Jeremy Piven back in the days before he became an insufferable jerk).

Last night’s episode continued dancing around the potential love triangle of Fitch-Sanchez-Stone. Fitch is having a problem with his car and asks Sanchez to take a look (apparently she is also a part-time grease monkey) and she seems eager to do so and spend the time with him but he has to cancel when he gets a surprise call from his son who wants to come visit. Imperioli is so good in these scenes and really makes the viewers want to know what happened in New York?!

In the ‘Ice Man’ part of the episode Longford and Mahajan are trying to track down information about a man found frozen to death in a block of ice and speak to a guy who knew the victim from ‘urban exploring.’ In the best scene of the show the guy says the victim had had problems with a French photographer who was in town to take photos of Detroit’s many crumbling architectural gems. He expresses his disdain that the French photographer would exploit ‘ruin porn’ and bemoans that ‘Detroit is coming back but no one wants to report THAT.’ It’s this kind of smart writing and thinly-veiled commentary that has endeared this show to me and many other viewers. I’d really like to see Detroit 1-8-7 get a second season – let’s hope that ABC sees the potential and sticks with it.

Needless to say, my favorite new term of this very young year is 'ruin porn.' But it is true - the abandoned buildings of Detroit do still have a beauty to them. See for yourself - Michigan Central Station.