Jamie Foxx’s New Cop Show on M6: Is It Worth Your Time?

This Saturday, January 11, starting at 9:10 PM, M6 will air the first three episodes of Alert, a crime series conceived by John Eisendrath and Jamie Foxx.

Six years after their son suddenly vanished, Jason Grant, who works in private security, and Nikki Batista, a police investigator, have amicably separated and are struggling to move on with their lives.

Nikki now leads the missing persons unit of the Philadelphia police and is in a committed relationship with Mike (Ryan Broussard), one of her colleagues.

Meanwhile, Jason, without telling his new partner, June (Bre Blair), admits he’s not ready to have another child. Their routine life is upended when Jason receives a photo suggesting their missing boy is still alive. Is it really him in the picture? What has happened to him over these past six years? Nikki and Jason set out to uncover these mysteries.

A Typical Crime Series

Crime series focusing on units specialized in finding missing persons are commonplace on American TV. While one might hope that Alert, M6’s latest offering, would stand out from its counterparts, it unfortunately does not.

This fairly standard show, where each episode deals with a new case, seriously lacks plausibility, particularly regarding the disappearance and especially the reappearance of Keith, Nikki and Jason’s son.

It’s puzzling that after six years, the police aren’t the first to interview the teen upon his return. Moreover, they allow him to rejoin his family as if nothing happened. Furthermore, it appears that no one considers verifying the young man’s identity with a DNA test.

Despite this somewhat far-fetched main storyline, we can’t help but be drawn to find out the true end of the tale, and the real identity of Keith. It’s unfortunate that the writers, who seem to know the genre well, didn’t focus on this mystery, rather than serving us investigations into disappearances that desperately lack suspense, stakes, and twists.

A Refreshing Cast

Despite these flaws, Alert remains an enjoyable crime series to watch, largely thanks to its lead characters. The chemistry between Scott Caan, formerly Danny “Danno” Williams of Hawaii 5-0, and Dania Ramirez, seen in Devious Maids, is indeed evident.

Additionally, the dynamic between Nikki and Jason is quite innovative for this genre. The former spouses have remained friends, continue to interact and work together, and have even managed to find new love, all without any ambiguity between them.

In the end, Alert is a crime series that may not revolutionize the procedural genre but does manage to captivate us and makes us eager to watch episode after episode to unravel the mystery surrounding the character of Keith.