The Catch Series Premiere Review: Are You Ready to Play?

The newest addition to Shondaland is finally here.

The Catch feels like a lighter version of what we’re used to seeing on the TGIT line-up, which is a nice change of pace. It starts with high energy, upbeat music, and an immediate sense of mystery. You can’t help but love Alice Vaughan (Mireilea Enos) right from the start, especially when she catches her con artist at the museum without breaking a sweat.

She’s tough, but she’s got a side that’s softer than what we often see with female leads who do things like take down bad guys.

There’s one bad guy, though, that she and her team have yet to be able to catch. They call him “Mr. X,” and he always sends a note that says “Are you ready to play?” One of the guys in the firm even points out that he must either want to get caught or that he looks at it all as a game.

My guess is, it’s a little of both.

And he really does know how to play. Our con man is played by Peter Krause, and it’s a role that’s basically the opposite of the one he played on Parenthood. This guy is nothing like Adam Braverman, that’s for sure.

One of the most entertaining things about this pilot episode is watching him pull of his cons. Everything is smooth and perfectly planned, and even though he’s essentially our villain, there’s a piece of me that really wants him to get away with everything.

The catch (pun intended) is that Alice’s fiance is the man they’ve been after all along. We learn that before the credits role, and she figures it out by the end of this first episode. That’s a little bit of a letdown, because there could have been potential in watching Alice and her team go after this con man, while also watching how he outmaneuvers her at every turn.

We get, instead, just a tiny glimpse of that when he throws on a cap and sunglasses, waiting for just the right moment to walk behind her and get away.

Really though, I think what we’re in for is something more interesting. Yes, this is the story of a con man. It’s a classic game of cat and mouse. But it’s also deeper and more complicated than that, because of course, our con man has made one very big mistake. He’s fallen in love with the person he was trying to con.

We see that in the scenes before Christopher takes off. Alice is trying on her wedding dress, and when he almost sees her in it, she hides. But he early begs to see her in it, and you can tell from the way he’s looking at her that all he really wants to do is to stay. This is his only chance to see her in that dress.

The next morning, Christopher watches her while she sleeps, and it’s clear he’s conflicted. He wasn’t supposed to fall in love with her, but he did. You can see all of that in his eyes. He tries to get Alice to run away with him — his one chance to be with her and get away from the con. She hesitates, and by the time she decides to do it, it’s too late.

When Alice realizes Christopher has conned her out of everything, then realizes he’s actually the man they’ve been looking for all along, she starts putting the pieces together. We get to see how their relationship came to be, and how he planned every little detail from the beginning.

Here’s the thing, though. Now that Alice knows, it looks like Christopher has met his match. That moment when he and his partner, Margot (Sonya Walger) realize that they’ve gotten conned themselves is priceless. I think it even makes our con man love Alice a little more.

He gets her that painting, which is obviously symbolic. It suggests two things: one, that he’s trying to show her how good he is at this game. And two, that there was something real to their relationship.

What did you think of the premiere of The Catch? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Catch airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.

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