I’ve been looking forward to “The Spencer Sisters” for a long time. I’m a fan of Stacey Farber, and she’s been one of my celebrity crushes since “Degrassi.” Coming off of her fun stint on “Superman and Lois,” her new crime caper series is a breath of fresh air. In a TV space where a lot of series’ are so dark and grim, it’s fun to see a crime series a lot more lighter and less focused on death. A mix of “The Gilmore Girls” and “Nancy Drew,” “The Spencer Sisters” is an entertaining mystery drama series that teams an actual retired police officer with a mystery novelist. Both happen to be estranged mother and daughter.
Lea Thompson is great as Victoria Spencer, a famed crime novelist who is experiencing a big of a dry spell after her last novel flopped. When her daughter Darby comes back in to town, they’re both drawn to one another and forced in to solving a crime that suddenly pops up involving one of Darby’s long time friends. In the series premiere, Darby’s friend is wrongfully accused of plagiarism. She and mom Victoria must put aside their differences and investigate. The Canadian crime procedural actually works not only because of the writing but because of the two leads. And, although I can safely say the series is not aimed toward me, I did find so much to enjoy here, and I just appreciated the lighter tone and intelligent heroines.
Written by Alan McCullough and directed by April Mullen, “The Spencer Sisters” first outing revels in its light hearted nature, being accessible and allowing for a world you click in to, easily. The characters are charming and the conflicts are about as down to Earth as possible all the while injecting some genuinely interesting mysteries. I don’t know what the writes have planned for the rest of the season, but episode one really kicks off on a high note with some fun capers, and twists, as well as great interplay between Thompson and Farber. “The Spencer Sisters” is obviously built for the female audience focusing primarily on the interaction between the Victoria and Darby, and how much anger and resentment they have toward one another.
There’s also are some great side characters including Darby’s best friends and confidants, a married gay couple that balances raising a toddler daughter and being Darby’s trusty shoulders to cry on. That said, I just might continue the series once it debuts, and I truly hope CW goes forward with more episodes. I think the show is very worthy of a fan base and has some big potential to expand in to bigger mysteries. I hope people seek it out when it debuts, as Ms. Farber and Mrs. Thompson deserve it.
Premieres on Wednesday, October 4th at 9pm ET/PT on the CW.