Good Behavior

The action stays life-sized and plausible; the talk is largely crisp, rarely overripe.

Not only is Raines a crook, but she’s an alcoholic and an addict. It takes some getting used to seeing Dockery in this role. Botto, though, is perfect, suave and sinister as the hitman.

Dockery and Botto have heat to spare, and troubling as Letty and Javier’s partnership may be, the actors’ performances make us believe that the two have enough in common for the plot to evolve into a standout narrative.

Good Behavior kicks off as maybe the best drama pilot TNT has produced since Southland, while Dockery's new direction as a bad girl is wonderfully realized--and a very welcome relief for anyone tired of the reserved Lady Mary. ... But more than anything, Good Behavior's pivotal fourth episode will need to address how Letty and Javier stay together and why--and it can't take place in a car with a fading battery. If there's a convincing way to keep these two connected, Good Behavior could really be something for TNT.

This is a strangely not-quite-there show, one that has assembled all the elements of a classic but settles for being watchable.

Letty might actually be a better protagonist for an old-school TNT show, taking on another caper and identity in each episode. Forced into a dark, gritty ongoing storyline, she ends up a chore to watch.

The show ultimately feels like a kind of meager mechanism, fine-tuned to deliver jolts, laughs, and maybe even tears, which is the exact opposite of who Dobesh is in the pages of Crouch’s books.