If ever there was a show with nine lives, it’s CBS’s crime drama Unforgettable.
The series starring Poppy Montgomery follows a New York City detective who has a condition that causes her to remember everything. It premiered in 2011 to a lot of fanfare but was cancelled after the first season despite modest ratings.
Fans made a ruckus and the network brought it back for an abbreviated season two in the summer of 2013 much to my personal delight. However, by then some of the supporting cast was unavailable so the series was re-tooled. This time, Montgomery and her co-star Dylan Walsh were solving crime in a laughably high-tech major crimes department.
The one positive note was that Jane Curtin returned as the slightly acerbic coroner and Dallas Roberts – who played Alicia Florrick’s brother on The Good Wife – signed on as their quirky new boss. But it just wasn’t the same show.
Gone was the slightly damaged character with a dark side. Gone were the interesting secondary storylines.
Montgomery’s fashion sense also underwent a drastic change. The first season was filled with Poppy in black tank tops and jeans regardless of the temperature in order to show off her sculpted arms while everyone else wore jackets or suits. However, with the new job came boxy leather jackets and flouncy wide skirts to hide a belly.
The actress had become pregnant during the cancellation, forcing CBS to push back the start of production. With the late start came an abrupt mid-season end and then a return late the following spring to finish off the season.
After a few weeks off, the third season began. But by then, Montgomery had become pregnant yet again.
Along with the new lighter style of writing, each week was written as a stand-alone episode. This was fortunate since who could find it from week to week?
And how do you hold on to your viewers when your characters, storylines, styles, and schedule is constantly changing? You don’t.
So it’s no surprise that CBS cancelled the show for the second time after season three. Enter A&E who has picked it up for a season four. Apparently, the show has done very well internationally and the network wants to capitalize on it.
However, once again, the show will change. Gone are Jane Curtin and Dallas Roberts, along with some of the supporting cast. And at the end of the third season, who should show up but Carrie’s (Montgomery) husband.
Except, wait, what husband? Did the woman who cannot forget anything forget that she was married?
And thus will be the show’s new mystery for season four. So apparently they’re moving away from the stand-alone episodes and back to a continuing storyline. But who’s left to watch it?
I want to be excited for the return of Unforgettable. I do. But as any zombie apocalypse will tell you, when you bring back the dead, what returns is something different altogether.
And it may eat your brains.
