Review: 'Ties That Bind'

Whether you're a TV critic or just a viewer, it doesn't take long to realize that we are in the midst of the era of #TooMuchTV. There are so many great scripted TV shows airing each week that not even the most dedicated person can possibly watch them all. But the side effect of that boom is that it is especially difficult for smaller scripted shows to get attention.  Especially if you're a procedural show airing on a network that most viewers don't realize even produces any original series.

And speaking for myself, it's an especially challenging problem. We have a huge list of upcoming premieres and our editorial calendar looks more a spreadsheet you'd use to organize the evacuation of a large city. And yet it's still easy to miss an otherwise worthwhile show. When I talk to network publicists, I always promise that if they send me a show to review, I will watch and write about it. But even with that incentive, it's sadly easy for an otherwise fine show to stay under the radar.

The UP Network has produced some solid original TV movies, but Ties That Bind is its first scripted drama. And despite the fact that it stars the veteran actress Kelli Williams, it was on the air for three weeks before I had the opportunity to see it.

In the show, Williams plays Allison McLean, a veteran police detective living and working in suburban Seattle. As is often the case with working women, she struggles to balance her high-pressure work schedule and her personal life. She's married to Matt (played by Jonathan Scarfe) and has two teenage kids, Jeff and Rachel (Mitchell Kummen & Natasha Calis).  But her life begins to spiral out of control when her partner Devin (Dion Johnstone) arrests Allison's brother Tim (Luke Perry). After he's sent to prison, Allison decides to take in his two teenage kids and as you can imagine, those changes throw her family life into turmoil.

There's nothing fancy about Ties That Bind. It's a well acted police procedural and like the successful TNT drama Rizzoli & Isles, its woman-centric storytelling provides a nice alternative to the testosterone-filled police procedural that is the norm for the genre. Tonally, the show has a very retro feel to it and I mean that in a very good way. Maybe it's the smaller budget or the fact that it's being produced for a relatively new network. But the show is reminiscent of those great little procedurals that aired in the 1990s and I'm very okay with that.

That's not to say that I love everything about Ties That Bind. Dion Johnstone was great on Stargate SG-1 and watching him it's clear that he's a good actor. But for me he doesn't really work in the role of Allison's partner and it's the one piece of casting that seems to be a misstep. The other issue is that some of the scenes are a bit awkward and predictable and that can slow down the pace of the episode. But that seems to be less of an issue in later episodes, so this might just be a case of everyone finding their equilibrium on a new show.

Despite my small issues with Ties That Bind, it's a show well worth watching if you're a fan of Kelli Williams and/or a good police procedural. It's a solid idea that is the television equivalent of a great beach novel. It's entertaining, well-constructed and when it's over you'll be glad you gave it a try.

Ties That Bind airs on Up TV, Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET.