Lonestar: Pilot

     The buzz on Fox's new drama, Lone Star, was that it was great but so high concept that reviewers couldn't imagine how it could last creatively more than 5 or 6 episodes.  From the pilot episode, I don't see that as the shows problem.  It seems to me, the concept of a grifter trying to get out of the game and start a real life could be easily shed.  Lone Star seemed to be nothing more than a really good night time soap opera.  That being the case, I don't see any problem with them following other characters and changing story lines with relative ease.  I mean, it wouldn't have been odd for a grifter with a shady past to walk on Melrose Place, why can't Lone Star do it?
     The problem I see has more to do with the audience feeling sympathy for the lead character, Bob Allen played by James Wolk.  Bob is a con man who is currently working two cons.  In one he is married to the daughter of a huge oil tycoon, Cat Thatcher, played by Friday Night Lights favorite Adrianne Palicki.  In the other he is the boyfriend of a girl, Lindsay played by Eloise Mumford, who's parents he is taking money from.  While it is easy to connect with Bob's desire to get out of the racket and become part of a "real" life, what I find a stretch to relate to is his desire to keep both lives he is living.  I realize that the anti-hero is becoming the norm more then the exception, characters like Tony Soprano and Don Draper and Tommy Gavin have us all rooting for the bad guy, but there is something about deciding to marry two women and keep it secret from them I have a problem rooting for.  Some will ask, why is that any different then Tony and Don cheating on their wives?  I guess it's in the writing.  You know what Tony and Don are doing is wrong and you aren't happy when they do it.  You hope they will see the errors of there ways and every time they slide you feel upset.  I felt like Lone Star was glorifying Bob's decision, like it was the right thing to do and at that point it lost me.
     On the whole I enjoyed Lone Star in a vapid way.  It was a fun hour and there were some good actors that I like watching.  I don't think it will be appointment viewing for me and if they don't do something to change Bob's decision making I may fall off even faster, but for now I will continue to watch.