Patrick Dempsey in 'Memory of a Killer.' Danielle Blancher/Fox Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text For the first three minutes of Fox's Memory of a Killer, Patrick Dempsey's Angelo projects suburban normalcy. He visits his pregnant daughter (Odeya Rush's Maria) and son-in-law (Daniel David Stewart's Jeff), makes small talk about his dead wife and his job selling office supplies. He drives Maria to her job teaching school. At this point, Suburban Normcore Dad Angelo drives off in an SUV so boring it's practically a station wagon and arrives at a lair in the wilderness, his very own bat cave where he changes out of his bland khakis and puffy vest into a sleek, perfectly tailored black suit. The boring car is left behind and replaced by a snazzy black Porsche EV. Related Stories TV Todd and Julie Chrisley Revealed as Contestants on 'Masked Singer' After Trump Prison Pardon TV NFC Wild Card 2026: When and Where to Watch San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles Online for Free Memory of a Killer The Bottom Line Too risible to be believable, not risible enough to be enjoyable. Special premiere: Sunday, January 25, after the NFL playoffs (Fox)Time period premiere: 9 p.m. Monday, January 26 (Fox) Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Michael Imperioli, Richard Harmon, Odeya Rush, Daniel David Stewart, Peter GadiotCreators: Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone Because Angelo isn't a boring suburban office supply salesman. He's a hitman, and if you can't look and drive like a FREAKING HITMAN, what's even the point of killing people for money? It's a ridiculous moment, one that instantly torpedoes any desire the show might have to be taken seriously as a semi-dramatically semi-grounded story about a hitman with Alzheimer's, because it's really a show about a dad who treats killing people as cosplay. He's basically Batman. Alzheimer's is basically the Joker (and not a very real neurodegenerative disease). And the whole thing is just plain silly, which I take as the series' blessing to say that, while Angelo represents a juicy part for Dempsey, one that he plays serviceably, the best part of Memory of a Killer is how perfect Dempsey's "I'm a Hitman!" swept-back silver hair looks in every frame. I'm talking "better than a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's" level of tonsorial perfection. The second best part of Memory of a Killer is Angelo's "I'm a Hitman!" Porsche EV, which is lit and framed so flawlessly every time it appears onscreen that I assume Porsche has covered a goodly portion of the series' budget. The third best part of Memory of a Killer is Angelo's "I'm a Hitman!" wardrobe, which should come with ordering instructions. Nothing else really comes close to the hair, the Porsche and the suits. The show is based on the Belgian film De Zaak Alzheimer - "Zaak" means "case" in Dutch, if you're hoping to learn Dutch from reading TV reviews - which was itself based on a Belgian novel of the same name and was previously adapted in English as the 2022 Liam Neeson film Memory, which you probably don't remember, which isn't an Alzheimer's joke, just a reflection on some percentage of Liam Neeson's recent cinematic output. You may, incidentally, be confusing Memory with the Michael Keaton film Knox Goes Away, about a hitman with a different, non-Alzheimer's neurodegenerative disease - Creutzfeldt-Jakob, if you're hoping to acquire medical knowledge from reading TV reviews - but they're different movies. Anyway, Memory of a Killer was adapted for Fox by Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone, with a pilot directed by Daniel Minahan, who has directed enough prestige cable dramas that it's disappointing how much Memory of a Killer looks like a broadcast show. The basics, again: Angelo's daughter and annoying son-in-law think that he sells copiers, requiring frequent trips out of town. Instead, he goes to his bat cave and dons his hitman garb and goes into the city, where he kills people at the behest of Dutch (Michael Imperioli), who runs an Italian restaurant. Clearly there's a good deal more to Dutch's operation than just pushing pasta, but critics have only been sent the first two episodes and the depths of his dealings haven't been explained. Dutch has a bumbling nephew (Richard Harmon's Joe), who serves as Angelo's spotter, which is a thing hitmen have. In the first half of the pilot, Angelo kills some triad boss, even though the boss is attending his daughter's birthday party, which presumably is ruined. Angelo has a code. Angelo's code is very dumb. At least in the second episode, another killer mocks him for it. Joe and Dutch know nothing about Angelo's life in the burbs. Maria and Jeff know nothing about Angelo's bat cave or the fact that he has a pimped-out - decorated, clearly, by Design Within Reach of Hitmen - apartment in the