Network: FX; Genre: Crime, Drama; Content Rating: TV-MA (for strong language and violence); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);Seasons Reviewed: Season 1 Nick Atwater (Andre Braugher, "Homicide", "Gideon's Crossing") leads a gang of well organized, highly talented thieves in post-Katrina New Orleans. They take from bank vaults mostly, working undetected, until one day they are spotted stealing from the Chinese mafia, one of their own gets greedy and deviates from the objective and Nick's home life with his new wife (Dina Myer) and her daughter Tammi (Mae Whitman, "Arrested Development") is tragically turned upside down. All of this threatens their biggest score yet: stealing 40 million government dollars from the belly of a passenger plane 30,000 feet in the air.After finding success with over-the-top dramas "Nip/Tuck", "The Shield" and "Rescue Me", the patented FX absurdity gets dialed down in "Thief". My first instinct is to rate the show lower than it probably deserves. I'm so used to FX jumping in my face that it requires us to plug "Thief" back in with the rest of the network dramas to see how good it really is. A more methodical character-driven drama taking us inside a criminal organization than a white-knuckle crime thriller, "Thief" is the most like HBO's "The Sopranos" than anything else on the line-up. There is even a gruesomely clever torture sequence involving Linda Hamilton and a long thread of firecracker cable in here.In the thief crime sub-genre that also includes this year's profoundly lame NBC/Doug Liman project "Heist", "Thief" does it as well as I've seen, but at the same time it doesn't break out of the genre. It doesn't have its own unique voice. The show plays it surprisingly safe, unfolding its story crisply and more than competently, but also without any big surprises, twists or turns. It goes where it needs to go, using characters that it needs to get there, but little more.Ironically, what we all came here to see, the big heist, fails to generate as much excitement as the show's apparent B-story - which involves the impossibly trying relationship between Nick and stepdaughter Tammi. This family dynamic is usually a tack-on story networks use to bring in a larger demographic and yet here it is played out with electrifying results. Braugher we already know as one of TV's most talented actors who can't get a break (more on him later), but Whitman is a real discovery. She plays this with a heart-breaking emotional realism well beyond her years. You'd imagine it would be tough to steal the show from Andre Braugher, but Whitman does it. The scenes between the two of them are emotional fireworks.It is Tammi's story that moved me the most and that is the one where we actually feel the most is at stake even though it has nothing to do with Chinese assassins and mid-air heists. Fortunately, the show knows what it has and Witman's story is folded nicely into the main story without a missed beat.The other thing that keeps "Thief" compelling is the simple brilliance of Andre Braugher in the lead. The man doesn't know the meaning of the word obvious. Nothing is big, nothing is overplayed. It is a quiet, sophisticated, even hypnotic, performance where on the page there could just as easily have been nothing. Braugher has once again created a character that keeps the audience guessing about where his loyalty actually lies: the money, the team, his own code of ethics, his new stepdaughter or his wife. In contrast to Braugher is Michael Rooker as an over-the-top brutal caricature of a cop who screams like he'd rather be in a broad Stephen Bochco series than in a character drama like this.Where "Rescue Me" and "Nip/Tuck" are on fire, "Thief" is lukewarm. Even Bochco's "Over There" was a riskier and more inventive series, before it collapsed on itself. As every storyline races to the end, the show's focus gets smaller. There are a lot of irons in the fire, maybe too many, and not a balanced payoff. It would have helped if "Thief" fleshed out the rest of the team members a little more, but hopefully that will be something to settle in future seasons. It isn't as fully realized and clever as "The Sopranos" and doesn't have the silently simmering tension of Showtime's "Sleeper Cell", but "Thief" becomes a careful, well-made, visually gorgeous heist series with two spectacular lead performances to keep it moving.* * ½ / 4

Got home late last night from work, just to correct the Tivo from missing the last episode of "Thief" due to a May channel lineup change by our cable company.So glad I did, because now I have all 6 episodes to watch over the summer. I've been a big fan of Andre Braugher since "Homicide" (and Shakespeare in the Park!) and was very excited when this show was announced. Neat that Yancey Arias posted here (no reason to believe it was not him, right?) Yancey is a dashing actor who reminds me (and I'm sure many casting directors) of a younger Benjamin Bratt.While I admit to have been taken aback by the cursing and violence on a network show (I'm a 30 something dad of two young kids), and by a lot of the darkness that pervades even the "good" characters in "Thief", it's this last element that made watching the series so appealing to watch from start to finish. Unlike more commercial shows, things in "Thief" aren't so black and white.Which brings me back to the finale. I really appreciated the way each member of the team had to find their own way, and each was not exactly what you might expect. Gabo did not get miraculously cured by the older ex-con who "helped" the team and took in Tammi. (Say it ain't so Yancey!) Malik Yoba's character got nabbed (partially due to his need to be constantly on the phone with his wife after the job). Jack looks like he gets away relatively scott-free, but not with what he really wants, his church-going girl to build a new life together with his share of the take. And Nick, well, as a father of two girls, I understood his choice.So, while things were wrapped up well enough in the finale, it wasn't the "Let's all go build great new lives in an anonymous Mediterrean or Caribbean town" that you got in Oceans 11, The Bourne Identity, or might in other TV dramas. I wonder, even if the demand as there, how they'd build another season out of the loose ends of the finale. Even if they don't, the six episodes of "Thief" stand as great storytelling and greater TV.

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.

Most of the people who posted here really understand the dynamics of this kind of show. I can tell we have some real promising fans for the show already. For those of you who aren't as enthusiastic as the millions of other viewers thats to be expected. Every one has different tastes. I can tell you this- that given the chance this show will prove to be a very compelling and exciting show to watch every week. This coming from an actor who is in the show and has a biased opinion. I'm honest, and I can proudly say that by the end of 6 episodes you will be left wanting more.I'm Yancey Arias I play Gabo AKA Gabriel. I want to share with all of you some details about each episode without giving too much in the future Episodes. The first episode was meant to establish the intense pace and risky conditions of which these guys must work and live in to pull off a score. In the whirl wind of the storm people get hurt and relationships are forged and broken. The second episode begins to tell you how those relationships are affected by what happened in episode one. In each future episode you will get to know each character much more intimately. It is also the introduction of the biggest most daring heist that will go down in the air and on the ground. So episodes 3 and 4 will involve all the challenges that could possibly come up in order to plan such a score. The noose gets tighter around each characters neck, and the body count will increase by the end of all 6 episodes. Who will it be? Well you'll have to watch wont ya.;)Episodes 5 and 6 is the Big Bang and the score is in full effect!!!! But you cant miss episode 3 and 4 simply because you wont feel the impact as hard. Follow the journey my friends. Trust me; Andre and the rest of us will keep you fully entertained in all the episodes. So you don't want to miss anything, All of your questions will be answered by the end, and you will be completely enthralled by the shows quality at all levels. Just give this show a chance the way you gave "THE SHIELD" and "NIP TUCK" a chance. Tell all your friends to watch. The Reviews are awesome. More people need to watch this great show. I'm not just saying this cause I'm in the show. I happen to love movies such as Heat, Oceans 11, Colateral, and Ronin. If your like me then you'll be all into our show "THIEF". Every Tuesday Nights at 10pm on FX. If you have (Dish Network) then it's on at 7pm Pacific 10pm eastern. You can Also go to FXnetworks site and visit our THIEF message Board write in and express your support. A good old fashion letter to the FX studio to express your support is always welcomed. Many Blessings to all of you.Yancey Arias