RAINES is a perfect case of an actor superior to his material. Jeff Goldblum plays a brilliant but somber detective who imagines he communicates with the victims of the murders he is being sent to investigate. The usually quirky Goldlbum actually is rather subdued here, dealing with very dark mysteries in some cases. No tricky effects, just images of victims popping in and out of Goldblum's mind to help him figure out who killed them and/or how they died. Problem is, most of the shows have verged on the pedestrian while Goldblum is consistently interesting. He's like Monk crossed with Ghost Whisperer crossed with House, M.D. We will see how far this series can go without benefit of more interesting scripts.

I'm a big fan of Jeff Goldblum's and he was terrific in this. Intelligent writing really sets this apart from much of what is on network television these days. Let's hope this generates a following and maybe it will inspire some other producers to step up their writing a notch. Not to mention originality. So often every viewing choice I've got falls in such a narrow, predictable, repetitive, cookie-cutter slot. It's refreshing to see something original. The characters were wonderful, well defined, intelligent and well acted. It just made for a very fun hour. The pilot has a very touching ending. What a wonderful new project for a great actor.

I LOVED the pilot of "Raines"; being a HUGE JG fan, I couldn't wait to watch it (holding my breath all the while, hoping that the creators would do credit to JG's highly underrated acting prowess). I was NOT disappointed.His POV throughout the pilot episode was so unique; I was concerned that this was another in a long line of 'kooky detective' series (see Monk, Psych, etc.). But my fears were soon allayed.The most interesting aspect of this show was that, while I watched it, I truly ran the gamut of emotions (if I may employ such an over-used cliché); I laughed, I was intrigued, and the ending not only completely caught me off-guard, I found myself in a pool of tears. Sounds corny, right? Well, shucks, it's the truth.I suggest to those who haven't seen the pilot do so before watching the following episodes, as it is the essential building block for the series (yea, I know that's what a pilot is supposed to be, but so often that is not the case--I have seen the ol' bait and hook method used in a variety of pilots that went on to a series that didn't follow the original premise).I can't wait for the upcoming episodes; I just hope the networks give it the chance that it deserves.

Since I've only seen one episode so far, I can't give the series as a whole a ten rating. but nevertheless, the pilot episode of this program presents a series with great potential, all based on a REALLY clever idea. I was glad that this show wasn't just another supernatural affair, a la 'The Sixth Sense' or something along those lines. Instead, it is a study of one L.A. detective's determination, and even maniac ism, to solve murder cases. The victim's "form" throughout the show as Michael Raines (played perfectly by the always-great Jeff Goldblum!) starts to piece together their personalities from evidence gathered while investigating said crimes. They're not "ghosts" or "unresting dead", but actual figments of Raines' detective mind. There is a line in the show, a bit of dialog, that sort of describes how this came out: Raines' ex-partner (surprises to come!) reminisces about Raines' method to talk to himself during investigations... to "talk through" his cases to get to know his victims. Well he does that now, except trauma, both emotional and physical (Raines' was shot prior to the pilot episode) has him actually "seeing" the victims and he talks to himself. It's real clever, and interesting. Because it's all in the mind, anything can happen.Anyway, give this show a shot. It's not one of these over-the-top "what ridiculous shlt is gonna happen next" kinda network show that's been on the last few years. It is written, co-created, and directed by Frank Darabont ('The Shawshank Redemption', 'The Green Mile') and all the acting is excellent. Goldblum always delivers quirky, yet still likable and believable characters, and there's always something new around every story corner. This is the kind of quality show that could be on HBO Sunday nights. GO WATCH!!!