Life
Detective mysteryCrime-solving from the investigator's side of the table.This show: 9/10Outsider leadA misfit or newcomer as our way into the world.This show: 8/10Mystery boxCentral riddles sustained across whole seasons.This show: 8/10Deadpan coolDetached, understated and effortlessly stylish.This show: 7/10RevengeVengeance as the driving motive.This show: 7/10ProceduralA case or problem of the week, solved by a formula that works.This show: 7/10Character studyInterior life matters more than plot.This show: 7/10Secrets & liesHidden truths straining every relationship.This show: 7/10
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Starring
Damian LewisSarah ShahiAdam ArkinBrent SextonDonal LogueBrooke Langton
Written by
Rand Ravich
Starring
Damian LewisSarah ShahiAdam ArkinBrent SextonDonal LogueBrooke Langton
Written by
Rand Ravich
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Life Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | E11 | E12 | E13 | E14 | E15 | E16 | E17 | E18 | E19 | E20 | E21 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.5 | |||||||||||
| S2 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 8.8 |
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About
"A wrongly convicted cop turned zen detective"
A detective spends twelve years wrongly imprisoned, emerges with a fortune from the settlement, a fondness for Zen koans and fruit, and a badge back on the LAPD. He returns to solve other people's crimes while quietly working his own frame-up. Each episode is a self-contained case, but an underlying conspiracy simmers beneath. The tone is offbeat and meditative rather than grim, carried by a magnetic, unpredictable lead performance and sharp, dry chemistry with his skeptical new partner. It's stylish, funny in unexpected places, and more character study than procedural by the end.
Watch it for
the lead performance, equal parts wounded, funny, and unnervingly calm.
Maybe skip if
you want a straightforward procedural without a slow-burn conspiracy thread.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 12007
7.95K117h 55m
Life was his sentence. Life is what he got back. The unconventional police officer-turned-convict-turned-detective gets a second chance. After twelve years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, offbeat Charlie Crews has returned to the force with a $50 million settlement, a new spiritual outlook, a strong fondness for fruit, and a highly unusual approach to solving crime. With the aid of his skeptical and demanding new partner, Dani Reese, he's turning police procedure upside down.
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Season 22008
7.98K2116h 37m
He's got a second chance at life…and he's doing whatever it takes to make every moment count. Charlie Crews, an eccentric detective returning to the force after being wrongfully imprisoned is back on the beat with his determined partner, Dani Reese, and his unusually Zen-like outlook toward the cases he investigates. This unconventional crime solver tries to catch the LA wrongdoers who really belong behind bars—as well as whomever was behind his own fall from grace.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Damian Lewis Detective Charlie Crews
Sarah Shahi Dani Reese
Adam Arkin Ted Earley
Brent Sexton Robert Stark, Officer Robert Stark
Donal Logue Captain Kevin Tidwell
Brooke Langton Constance Griffiths
Robin Weigert Lt. Karen Davis
Jennifer Siebel Newsom Jennifer Conover
William Atherton Mickey Rayborn
Victor Rivers Jack Reese
Crew
Rand Ravich
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