Four episodes in, "Thief" is an exercise in calculated tension; this is the first weekly series to grab me since season one of "The Sopranos." It feel rough, jazzy, messed up the way real life is messed up. Society would probably be better off if every single character in "Thief" were eliminated, but let's face it - "society" is not, never has been and never will be Disneyland.Yeah, it does looks "ugly" - because it's about seriously ugly things. If you need obvious heroes in your entertainment or think everything should be shot to look like "ER", this is clearly not going to work for you. It's not very pleasant, but it is riveting. No way I would wait for the DVD to find out what happens.

Andre Braugher is, with this show, finally able to show the dark side we got glimpses of with the Homicide series. Nick is not so ruthlessly attached to being in control, and shows some emotion that we Homicide buffs thirsted for from Det. Pembleton. It is wonderful to see one of the most underrated actors in television history flex his formidable acting muscles in this show. He is, as always, convincing as hell, but now has a much more human spin to his character that makes his magnetism even more powerful.I intend to keep up with this series for as long as the TV gods let us have it.

I have to say that after watching it last night. I became addicted to this groundbreaking show. Andre Braugher best known for his role as Frank Pemberton on the NBC show, Homicide: Life on the Streets, which I still consider one of the best cop shows ever made has breathed life into this character, Nick, who by all appearances works in the auto field but his real career is that of a professional thief. Granted, I would have like to have seen the interracial relationship between Nick and Wanda but that was cut too short. NIck's stepdaughter is kind of a typical teenager girl who just lost her mother and doesn't know what to make of her stepfather. Although her father lives in Hawaii, he never comes to his former wife's funeral is a testament to watching this interesting relationship unfold in the upcoming episodes. There are a lot of crime shows on television but this show is set apart by the fact that even the criminals have a code and they could pay with their lives. THe fact that the show is set in New Orleans is also a strong factor as to what they can come up. I just saw one night but I wanted to see more. I like Linda Hamilton's character. She's a breath of fresh air. You have to see it once just to get the feel of it and want to see it again and again. I love Andre Braugher and I think he should get an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing this role.

There's very little different about this show. It looks and feels the same as so many other bad shows, like The Shield (also on FX!), that look terrible and bring little if anything to the table filmically.someone should clue in FX that shooting on video does not make a show look real: it just makes it look cheap and ugly! And why not use a tripod for a change... Yes, FX executives... hand-holding the camera constantly for no particular purpose is not brilliant direction. It's not direction at all and it's boring in the utmost.What a waste of acting talent that show is. I feel bad for Andre Braugher, Linda Hamilton, Dina Meyer...