Game of Silence or Nah?

Or Nah? is a feature where we watch and review the first episode of a new TV show. We’ll let you know if it’s worth checking out. As always, these reviews are the opinion of the reviewer, but we’ll try to adequately explain why you should or shouldn’t give the show a chance and provide shows for comparison.

Game of Silence S1E1 ‘Pilot’ | Starring: David Lyons (Jackson), Michael Raymond-James (Gil), Larenz Tate (Shaun), Bre Blair (Jessie)

What’s It About?

Four young boys are sent to a juvenile detention center in the late ’80s after their joyride leads to the death of a woman. While there, they’re abused and terrorized by the guards and the warden. Twenty-five years later, one of them brutally beats a guard after a chance encounter, and the others reunite to defend him. This brings up old wounds and nightmares that are only made worse when the warden - now Lt. Governor - decides to run for Congress.

Further complications include the disruption this brings to the life of Jackson (the one driving the car when they were boys), who is now a successful attorney in a prestigious firm, and Jessie, who was Jackson’s childhood sweetheart and now dating Gil, one of the best friends.

What’s Good? 

The story is compelling and you can’t help but feel for the men when you see how one stupid act derailed their lives. There promises to be a few more twists as the revenge beating that kicks off the series might not be the first time one of the friends got some violent justice.

Michael Raymond-James is great, but he always is in any role.

What’s Bad?

The story is compelling, but you’ve probably already seen it in Sleepers.

The Verdict

I may watch episode two, which airs tonight on NBC. Again, the story is interesting, but I’ll need to see a few more deviations from the plot of Sleepers before I commit beyond two episodes.