“Being a corporate bitch goes against everything I stand for.” – Cameron
Breaking In, Fox’s comedy starring Christian Slater, flew under my radar when it initially premiered. Like so many Christian Slater shows before it (My Own Worst Enemy, The Forgotten), Breaking In was unceremoniously cancelled after its first season. Just when it seemed like I would never get a chance to watch Slater take on corporate America’s biggest cyber-security threats, a miracle happened. Like a phoenix (or Family Guy), Breaking In rose from the ashes of sitcom purgatory. Fox un-cancelled the show, giving it the chance at a second season and giving me the chance to watch it for the very first time.
Having seen the second season’s first episode, “The Contra Club,” I’m actually pretty disappointed. Not in the show, but in myself. Why wasn’t watching Breaking In from the beginning? It’s fun, it’s fast paced, the characters are likable and the jokes are pretty darn funny.
The episode opens with a clever wink at the audience and, more importantly, at the folks at Fox. Oz (Christian Slater), the owner of Contra Security, a boutique cyber-security company, opens the show by saying this to a new client: “Greetings and salutations. I’m happy to see you finally came to your senses and gave us another shot.” To drive the point home even further, the client’s name is Mr. Fox.
“The Contra Club” does a good job at resetting, which allows people like me, who haven’t seen the first season, to jump in without feeling lost. Oz introduces Veronica (Megan Mullally), Contra Security’s new receptionist, to the team. And by doing so, the show reintroduces the main characters. There is Cameron (Bret Harrison), the “star hacker and cyber cracker”; Melanie (Odette Annable), the “lock picker and ass kicker”; and Cash (Alphonso McAuley), the “resident gadget geek and sci-fi fantasy freak.”
We soon learn that Veronica isn’t really a receptionist, but the VP of Acquisitions for a major conglomerate with its sights set on buying Contra from Oz. At first, the team is dead-set against a take over by corporate vultures. But after Oz announces that he’s broke and without the buy-out Contra will go under, they rally to his side.
It’s a bit of a contrived way of shoehorning Megan Mullally into the cast, but I mostly bought it. I really like Mullally, however it’s become obvious that she is playing variations on the same character in several different shows (Parks and Rec, Happy Endings, Children’s Hospital), and I don’t know if she’s quite as funny here as she is on those other shows.
Since I missed Breaking In on its initial run, I’d love to hear from people who watched the first season. Is it worth trying to track the first season down on DVD? How does “The Contra Club”, and the reincarnated show in general, compare to earlier episodes?
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.