Burden of Truth reminds us that Ben Bass needs a TV crime drama

After Burden of Truth, can Ben Bass get his own TV crime drama?

Last night’s Burden of Truth finale contained something awesome for TV crime drama fans—a guest appearance by Ben Bass, still beloved from his role on Rookie Blue.

While it was great to see a reunion between Ben and his Rookie Blue colleague Peter Mooney, not to mention Ben playing a character completely different from Sam Swarek, the way that Burden of Truth had to rush his part of the story prompted a very important question.

How is Ben Bass not starring in a TV crime drama of his own right now?

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After the end of Rookie Blue five years ago, Ben has kind of flown under the radar. He’s been working, in roles like Burden of Truth and his recurring arc as Marc Savage on CTV’s The Detail (which has yet to air on U.S. television), but there hasn’t been that one big project for him to sink his teeth into. That next big thing that he gets to lead, and to shine in.

That ought to change.

And it’s not difficult to figure out how, because as his recent resume indicates, Ben Bass has a bit of a knack for the TV crime drama.

Let’s face it: many shows in this genre can be kind of dry. Crime happens, hero solves crime, bad guy is (hopefully) arrested, and we move on. The best series are the ones that find a way to make that process interesting, and Ben is really good at that. Whether it’s doing the actual detective work, or even when he was getting grilled on the stand in Burden of Truth, he takes dialogue that could be tedious and makes it interesting.

That’s because he has the personality to lead a show like this. He was one of the best parts of Rookie Blue, and the audience truly responded to Sam’s character. Even in the Burden of Truth role, playing a character who was definitely in the wrong, he wasn’t entirely unlikeable—because he knows how to keep a character honest and not turn them into a caricature.

He would be the perfect person to lead a new crime drama, especially if it was something with a lighter tone like a White Collar-esque series (which frankly, viewers need right now in the age of antiheroes; not every detective needs to be brooding and angsty).

Ben Bass builds interesting characters that are always relatable and always have something that separates them from the normal genre mold. He certainly has the talent and range to lead a whole show. Give him a role that has some creativity to it—like a detective who’s written with some real personality (not the “quirky” stereotype), or someone who gets involuntarily promoted to his first command post—and we’d be off to the races. He’s too good to not be front and center somewhere.

While Burden of Truth was nice, the next time we see Ben Bass, he should be starring in his own crime-solving adventure.

Next. Questions after the Burden of Truth season 3 finale. dark

The Burden of Truth finale is now streaming on The CW website.

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