Lone Star

Lone Star (FOX)
Monday 9:00 PM

What it’s about: A con man with a conscience lives a double life and a double lie as he infiltrates a filthy rich big Texas oil family while living a middle class life with the daughter of one of the families he’s scamming.

What I thought about it: It was a solid premiere, James Wolk (a dead ringer for Kyle Chandler) as career conman, Bob Allen, has the charisma to pull off his cons and keep you watching. The premiere did a great job of laying the groundwork for this season. His dad (David Keith) wants to exploit his sons ‘talent’ as a con man and keep him from going straight. His wealthy father-in-law played by Jon Voight wants to give him a great new job, much to the dismay of his oldest son. He’s also got the love of two women to motivate him to do the ‘right’ thing, even though it’s impossible for him to do right by both women.

Bob is a protagonist in the same vein as Tony Soprano or Don Draper (Mad Men). In other words, we want to route for him even though he’s doing the wrong thing. While his intentions may be good (or getting good), he’s still a con man and by the end of the premiere, he’s also a polygamist. Yet he does seem to have some sort of moral code which was illustrated when he turned down the opportunity to hook up with an attractive woman at a hotel. He turned her down because he didn’t want to cheat on his wives (either of them). His moral compass clearly doesn’t have the same true north as most but it is a working compass all the same.

I will definitely be watching to see how this story develops and to see just how slippery Bob Allen can get to stay one step ahead of the truth.