Peter Horton's new series about the Devil's bounty hunter may sound depressing, but it's definitely worth watching.

Peter Horton plays a classics professor with a weakness for women in this sensitive drama... Sorry, wrong show.

"Brimstone" airs Fridays at 8 pm on FOX.

Why is it that there's a whole other set of criteria for shows that air on Fridays and Saturdays? If a show like "Cupid" was on any night between Sunday and Thursday, there would be no question about its success. But because it's on Saturday, it's trying like crazy to hold decent ratings. Yet, it's one of the best shows currently on the air.

I'm afraid the same will be true of "Brimstone", the new Friday night drama from Peter Horton (he of "thirtysomething"). Not only was it rescheduled from Tuesday to Friday, but they put it in the 8 pm slot. At least in a 10 pm slot, it would stand a chance of pulling an audience that doesn't stay out late.

"Brimstone" is the story of Ezekiel Stone (Horton), a cop who murdered his wife's rapist and was then killed in the line of duty. Stone gets sent to Hell where, 15 years later, 113 souls make a break for it. Stone strikes a deal with Satan (a wonderful and surprisingly three-dimensional John Glover) that if he can return all of the souls to Hell, Satan will give him a second chance at life. The rules of the game state that Stone can't be killed or experience pain unless it's inflicted by another damned soul. So if these villains are immune to death and pain, how does Stone send them back? Why, by attacking the eyes, of course. You know, the windows to the soul. Also, the longer the soul has spent in Hell, the greater his or her powers, which will make for some fairly uneven odds for Stone, who only died in 1983.

Although there will be inevitable comparisons to "The X-Files" and "Millennium," "Brimstone" in its first episode is far darker than either of these (yes, even darker than "Millennium"). One of the best features of the show is its look. "Brimstone" portrays the interaction of physical and spiritual, past and present, all of which are extremely real. Stone's past is featured in blinding, bleaching white light, while the present is dark and sooty. It's a similar setup to "Millennium"'s contrast between Frank's job and the yellow house, but here the juxtaposition is far more stark and surreal. The lighting, cinematography, and editing of "Brimstone" make the show both creepy and beautiful. It's definitely the best-looking show on television. But its darkness doesn't stem just from its visuals. The show never lets you lose sight of the fact that central to the premise is the role of Hell and Satan. "Brimstone" is one of the only shows I've seen that is governed by hard and fast spiritual laws. If a man commits murder, he goes to Hell regardless of how justified he thinks his actions were. In fact, it's this righteous justification that Satan calls "music to my ears."

In the premiere, Stone must chase down a fallen priest who believes it is his duty, as God's servant, to murder altar boys so that they can become the angels mentioned in Revelation 4:6. In the third episode, a female escapee discovers that her embrace can burn someone to death. Stone refers to these escaped souls as 113 of the vilest souls that ever walked the earth. I would guess that part of what makes them so awful is that their evil is complex and somewhat sympathetic. It's frightening to realize you understand this priest's zeal, even in its corruption, and that you feel sorry for the woman who accidentally kills in a search for intimacy.

The premiere also sets up the relationship between Stone and a cop who slowly discovers Stone's identity and eventually becomes his ally (sort of like Elisa in "Gargoyles"). This may be the only element of the show that seems trite. I suppose it's necessary if Stone must keep tabs on what's going on in the criminal world to track these souls down. But it would be far more interesting and challenging if the ally wasn't so sure and accepting of Stone. Stone is, after all, a damned soul himself. Maybe our hero shouldn't be so easily sympathetic to his audience.

One other minor problem I found with the show was the whole "eyes" issue. Are we going to have to go through an "Ultraman"-like threat to Ezekiel every week (remember how frightening that red light was)? It may work for a show about a Japanese super-hero, but not for a dark spiritual drama. The premiere didn't blatantly call attention to Stone's vulnerability in his tussle with the priest, so let's hope the writers continue to show such restraint. Another problem, which I hear is being corrected, is the unmitigated darkness. I mean, in this episode, a priest takes a little boy to the restroom, kidnaps him and holds him and some other boys hostage in an old subway tunnel. Week after week of this kind of thing would be a little depressing. By the third episode (Nov. 6), though, "Brimstone" supposedly has discovered a lighter edge (what one critic called "dark whimsy") which it will probably need to keep an audience. After all, that's one of the things that makes "The X-Files" work.

Date: October 25, 1998

Copyright © 1998 by Lisa McInnis