Every excellent detective show needs a hook. Sometimes, the detective is a rogueish outsider or has a particular personality quirk or compulsion. In Sight Unseen, ace detective Tess Avery (newcomer Dolly Lewis) abruptly loses her ability to see. At first, in denial of this, she puts her partner Jake (Daniel Gillies) in peril and lets a criminal escape. This leads her to quit the force, leaving her depressed and aimless until she connects with Sunny Patel (Agam Darshi) via a smartphone app that provides seeing eye people for the visually impaired.
It’s a novel concept – although not entirely new – and one that is dependent on the principal actors and their chemistry. This is no small order given that the characters are 3000 miles apart: Tess is in Vancouver, while Sunny is in New York. Luckily, the lead performers are easily the most vital aspect of this new series. Dolly Lewis is herself visually impaired (albeit not to the same degree as Tess) and does well with the frustration her character feels adjusting to a new life. It’s not just that she has lost her sight; she genuinely loved her job and hates having to give it up. It feels authentic enough that you can tell there is a level of personal experience there. It’s a nice bit of representation and it pays off in the performance.
Link: https://thatshelf.com/sight-unseen-review-new-canadian-detective-show-has-a-unique-hook/
Sight Unseen Review: New Canadian Detective Show Has A Unique Hook | That Shelf
