(September 20th, 2007 - Editor)
Nestor Carbonell (Lost), Sam
Carman (), Hector Elizondo
(Chicago Hope), Lina Esco (London), Eddie Matos
(General Hospital), Rita Moreno (West Side
Story), Jimmy Smits (The West Wing), Alona Tal
(Supernatural), Michael Trevino (The Riches) and Polly Walker (Rome)
star in
the one hour drama series Cane, debuting this fall on CBS.
The
Duque family has endured many obstacles in order to enjoy their share of
The American Dream. The Cuban-born Pancho (Elizondo) and his wife
(Moreno) arrived in South Florida with nothing. Through hard work,
perseverance and some hard-fought business deals, their family sugar
cane farm has grown to more than 178,000 acres. The business has been
expanded to include a Duque brand of white and dark rum that is
positioned to become one of the world's top brands. Pancho is proud of
his business and his now adult family and he knows that he must make a
critical decision. With only a few months left to live, he must
appoint a successor to take over the family business. He must choose
between his oldest son Frank (Carbonell) and his adopted son Alex (Smits).
Frank wants to sell the family's
178,000 acres of sugar cane to their chief competitors, the Samuels
family, so the Duque family can concentrate on the rum business. Alex
(Smits), is certain that when ethanol becomes the country's fuel of
choice, sugar will be the new oil. He wants to stay in the sugar
business and say no to the offer the Samuels have made them to sell
their cane fields. Their business instincts aren't the only striking difference
between the woman-chasing single man Frank and family guy Alex, who has been
married to Pancho's daughter, Isabel (), since she was 17. When Pancho
decides that control of the family company will be passed to Alex, the
Duque family is divided between their loyalty to their father and the
incredible wealth that is generated by the company. For his first act
as CEO of the company, Alex over-rules the other family members and
announces that they will be remaining in both the sugar business and
the rum business. And if a day ever comes when they do want to sell
their cane fields, it will never be to the cruel, evil, Samuels
family.
This multi-leveled and action filled pilot episode does a remarkable
job of introducing the major characters of this drama and setting up
the situation. For a little while, I was impressed by their version of
The American Dream. Until I was shown the underbelly of the Duque
family. Lust, greed and power, Cuban-style, are the order of the day
and by the end of the pilot episode, the majority of the lead
characters have shown the audience at least a little of their dark
side. The rival Samuels family is, of course, even worse. While that
is to be expected, it leaves the audience, who is already struggling
to understand the history and the culture of this drama, without a
clear hero to back. That may have worked for The Sopranos, but I'm not
sure network primetime television is ready for the mob hit of the
week. So far, we are offered a story about a couple of greedy,
ruthless, sugar cane farmers who will each stop at nothing to destroy
the other. I'm not sure there is an audience for that much honesty.
This effort has a real chance of achieving ratings success in Florida,
but I have my doubts about its ability to find popularity on a
national scale. Star Jimmy Smits will be the reason the audience tries
this serial drama and the solid supporting roles of Hector Elizondo
and Rita Moreno are two more reasons to try this on for size. But once
the familiar faces give way to the plot, the viewer will be challenged
to care about these cut-throat and self-centered people, who seem to
care about little else than growing their personal net worth. There
are no family values here, just greedy children with an inflated sense
of entitlement, who can't even wait until their father is dead before
they set to work carving up his empire. I don't want to watch that on
TV every week and I'm pretty sure the rest of the country is going to
feel the same way.
I applaud the writers and producers of this show for attempting to
bring us an accurate view of Cuban history, and for telling their
story with a full cast of Spanish-speaking actors. That is rare on TV
these days. But we needed more time to absorb the characters, the
setting and the plot of this drama before the lead character ordered
his first contract killing. How are we supposed to cheer for him now?
All of these people make me sick. Who wants to watch one group of
rich, blood-thirsty, thugs fight with another over who is the richest
and most powerful. By the end of the pilot episode, I was hoping for a
third option.
-- Editor --
