CBS’s Stalker could be groundbreaking if it keeps the focus on Lieutenant Beth Davis.

The Show: Stalker

The Network: CBS

The Genre: Police Procedural Drama

The Challenge: Give a show four episodes with which to draw you in, impress you, challenge you, make you feel something deeply. Four episodes for the chance to find out if you care what happens to the characters you’re watching enough to become invested in the story. If after all that, it does none of those things for you? Then no biggie. You gave it a good shot and you can move on. But if you love it, you’ll be glad you stuck around.

The Premise: Welcome to Stalker, where a team of detectives on the LAPD’s Threat Assessment Unit investigate stalking crimes. Lieutenant Beth Davis (Maggie Q, “Nikita”) is the woman in charge. She has a mysterious past of her own, including having had first-hand experience of being stalked. Detective Jack Larsen (Dylan McDermott, “The Practice,” “American Horror Story”) is the newest member of the team, having followed an ex from New York whom Jack is stalking along with their young son. While Jack’s trying to hide his dirty little secrets, Beth has unknowingly gained another unwanted admirer, Perry Whitley, who won’t stop until his hands are wrapped around Beth’s throat.

RELATED: Stalker Review: Episode 1×01 – Pilot

#1: Exploitative? Misogynistic?

Don’t be so quick to believe the negative hype that some have been spewing about Stalker. Yes, there are some female victims on the show who get stalked, attacked, and/or murdered. But that isn’t unlike other crime procedurals, on which it is frequently male perpetrators inflicting violence on women. This team is based on an actual Threat Assessment Unit and to pretend as if women are not the more frequent victims of stalking would undermine the very real social issues going on in today’s society that the show is addressing. There hasn’t been a great deal of violence on the show yet, apart from a rather shocking season opener of a woman being burned alive in a car crash. Despite the ten o’clock timeslot, this is still a basic cable show with content fitting of the according standards and practices.

RELATED: Stalker Review: Episode 1×02 – Whatever Happened to Baby James?

#2: Beth Davis Is An Every-Day Superhero

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again. We were on board to watch Stalker before we knew a title or even a premise for the show, and all we knew was that Maggie Q would be the lead. Maggie has done a fantastic job with the material she has been given. Whether she’s being a sharp-minded detective, a warm and caring best friend, or a closet rule breaker who threatens a privileged stalker who just isn’t understanding the meaning of the word “no,” we are entirely drawn in. Getting to little by little learn Beth’s story will be one of the most compelling parts of this season, as much of her origins have yet to be revealed but have been teased at. The occasional inclusion of physicality is also terrific fun to watch, because we love seeing Maggie be the butt-kicking badass on top of the dramatic content. It’s also tremendously important that Maggie is the show’s lead because of the representation she gives to Asian and Asian-American viewers. Beth is easily the type of character that can inspire and empower Asian viewers because of how dynamic she is. This is not another terrible dragon-lady trope character. Beth has emotions, strengths, flaws, vulnerabilities, and this is not something that Asian actors often have the opportunity to play in Hollywood.

RELATED: Stalker Review: Episode 1×03 – Manhunt 

#3: Shut Up And Work, Jack

Jack has been more miss than hit so far. He’s annoyingly full of himself and then bemoans how no one likes him. He struggles to grasp the concept of slut-shaming despite having a job that frequently deals with taking down men who have succumb to their entitled male privilege. He does well in the field when working the cases of the week but the show becomes borderline unwatchable when it goes back to his stalking of his ex and son. There’s a giant plothole that still hasn’t been addressed of why he doesn’t just ask for a paternity test to gain some sort of joint custody set up, or at the very least some visitation rights. The writers and Dylan McDermott have yet to create any semblance of sympathy for this character. If we’re not at least somewhat routing for him than it’s just a waste of screen time where we’re left suffering through his creepy stalking. On top of all of this, Jack has just hooked up with coworker Janice. We’ve barely had any introduction to the tension between them and already they’re going back to his place. This turn of events felt abrupt and out of place in the show’s story.

RELATED: Stalker Review: Episode 1×03 – Manhunt

#4: There’s A Monster Drawing Art Of Me

The pilot introduced Perry Whitley, the very embodiment of white male privilege and entitlement. Beth runs Perry off of his last victim, former roommate Eric, but unfortunately attracts the attention of Perry himself. Watching Perry slowly worm his way into Beth’s life by getting involved with Beth’s best friend Tracy (using a false name, of course) is just as squirm-inducing as it should be. But Perry is a more interesting villain than we would have expected. He’s obviously not right in the head but most surprising is how charming he can be when he wants to be. Erik Stocklin makes Perry fun to watch, albeit in a twisted way, and the writers have done well with the pacing of the Beth vs. Perry story and building the tension in it.

RELATED: Stalker Review: Episode 1×04 “Phobia”

Final Verdict:

Stalker is strongest when the focus is on Beth and/or the Beth vs. Perry arc. Episode 3 was undoubtedly the weakest episode of the bunch, and not so coincidentally, Beth was given very little to do in it. The focus should move away from Jack and his ridiculous soap-opera-like train wreck of a personal life, as it doesn’t benefit the story in any way. It also makes us nervous that whenever the truth gets out about his extracurricular habits, he’ll have little to no repercussions of his actions. Realistically, someone like that should be fired from his job and banned from law enforcement altogether unless some serious psychological rehabilitation is done. Move on from the incessant “why doesn’t anyone like me” routine because it’s long outstayed its welcome. Give the viewers more of Beth kicking butt, solving crimes, being brilliant, and show us what creepy-Perry’s up to.