Ted Griffin's new FX detective show Terriers goes back to the well Raymond Chandler dug all those years ago. It takes the sun-drenched, infinitely suburban labyrinth of southern California and superimposes all the darkness and irony of classic noir onto it. Its heroes, two shaggy, unlicensed PI's, are only slightly more law-abiding than the villains they investigate and their luck is only strong enough to keep them from getting killed. Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James star as Hank and Britt, a former cop and his young friend, respectively. They strike an interesting pair, not so perfectly tailored that they feel too intentionally matched. Neither one is "the smart one", nor does one feel like a sidekick. It'll take a little while to flesh these two characters out so we can see just how they got together in the first place. For now, it's just fun to follow them through a series of scrappy mysteries.

The pilot episode fills in a lot more of Hank's history than Britt's. We learn that he's a recovering alcoholic whose drinking got him booted off the local police force and likely ended his marriage. He has a lot of connections around town and he still uses his knowledge of police procedure to get otherwise unattainable info. Britt's life is more in the present. He has a live-in girlfriend who wants to see more maturity in him than he's usually capable of mustering and he's generally less principled than Hank. Britt's also a more physical character. Whereas Hank will use a little con artistry to get past a locked gate, Britt will just leap over it. Britt also seems a little more adept in a fight. In fact, the age disparity between the protagonists gets played up more than any other difference. Hank complains about having a faulty memory and there are scenes of him donning a pair of reading glasses, while Britt's biggest problem is his girlfriend's baby fever.

This episode presents Hank and Britt with their first real case. While it's hinted at in a scene with their lawyer that their bread and butter is the usual cheating husband case, they stumble into a murder conspiracy when they agree to help one of Hank's old friends find his troubled daughter. It's not clear by the end of the episode whether the show will have a long-arc plot revolving around the shady real estate mogul who serves as the pilot's villain or whether it's going to be a more episodic show. A mix of the two will probably serve Terriers better than one or the other. It seems to investing a lot of energy into character development but the nature of detective shows demands a variety of cases. Terriers is technically proficient enough and so well-cast that it'll be worthwhile to stick around and find out.

Best Moment: Hank and Britt getting past the mansion gate. It perfectly demonstrated their respective approaches to problems.

Notes: Michael Raymond-James is so much like a young Mickey Rourke it's kinda scary.

Episode Rating: 4.5/5- Terriers handles its comedic elements slightly better than its drama and it occasionally pushes the extent to which Hank's monkeying with the local PD is believable. Still, it's an engrossing show that is well-acted and has a lot of promise.