HitFix First Look: A ‘Bent’ crime scene investigation?

Last week, I published my review of NBC’s “Bent,” in which I said that I quite enjoyed the chemistry and banter between David Walton and Amanda Peet (and between Walton and the various contractors in his crew), but also that I was worried that NBC’s scheduling – six episodes in three weeks, with half of them airing opposite “Modern Family” (even if they were “Modern Family” repeats) – was setting the show up for failure. Based on your reactions to the first two episodes, I was not alone on the first point. Unfortunately, the ratings for those episodes also proved my fears right.

But the one advantage of such a compressed schedule is that NBC is all but certain to air the whole season. Even if tonight’s episodes (airing, again, at 9 & 9:30) tank just as badly as last week’s (if not worse), there’s virtually no point to NBC plugging in an “SVU” rerun for just the night. So you should get to see all six episodes if you want, and they continue to be funny and charming and nimble. And if NBC makes the expected move and doesn’t bring the show back next season, it’s not like you’re going to be left hanging on who killed Rosie Larsen. 

To get you in the mood, here’s a clip – exclusive to HitFix for the next few hours – from the opening scene of tonight’s second episode (though it picks up about 30 seconds into the episode, so you miss out on the rest of the crew deciding that Jesse Plemons’ new nickname is “Back Fat”) in which Peet’s Alex has to approach the crew with a very delicate matter. Enjoy.

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