Previewing The Chi

The Chi opens with a teenager strolling through his neighborhood and night until he happens upon a dead body. If I ever came across a dead body I like to think I would instantly calling the police but honestly, fleeing in terror is not completely off the table. But Coogie stares at the lifeless body before taking off its chain and sneaker and only flees when her hears sirens in the distance. Then he stashes his stolen goods before trying to blend into a crowd.

Of course I am just an old white guy from the suburbs and only read about the troubling times in Chicago. Despite all the statistics that come out of Chicago, life still goes on for the people surviving and trying not to become a statistic. The Chi follows four black males at various stage of life with nothing to tie them together aside from tangential relationship to that dead body that opens the show.

Kevin is in middle school and still has to deal with something all pre-teens obsess over: girls and grades. Granted these kids curse more in one scene than me and my friends did in all of middle school. Emmitt is a teenager with actual girl problems; one shows up with a baby she claims is his and bolts. Brandon, Coogie’s older brother, is a line chef on the nicer side of town with dreams of his restaurant and setting down with his real estate girlfriend but the city keeps pulling him back in. Then there is Ronnie, middle aged, who always seems to find a way to get by.

Each of the four have their own circle of acquaintances and rarely run into each other, but when they do, you know something important is happening and the show rarely falling into the problem where characters rarely runs into each other feels annoying. A fifth somewhat major character shows up in episode with an unknown agenda that also seems to tie into that original murder. There is also detective doing an official investigation and seems to be a stand-up guy even though none of the other characters trust the police. And maybe for good reason because there seems to be some of his co-workers have some shady objectives.

The Chi is a refreshing look at storytelling done much better than other shows that tried to tell stories by marginally related characters. Sure it can be frustrating at times as I sometimes ask, why not just go to the police (which may not be totally a race thing, I found myself saying the same thing to the dumb white girls on Pretty Little Liars). And the storytelling gets too cute at times too. The third episode ends in an annoying cliffhanger and then the fourth episode starts minutes later, missing the climax of the cliffhanger. And it is not until the end of the episode when you learn what exactly when down. But still, The Chi is the strongest start to a Showtime in a long time.

The Chi airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime.