Scott Speedman in 'RJ Decker.' Dana Hawley/Disney 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 Florida, in the public imagination, is not like other states. Florida is a wild and lawless swamp, even the parts of it that are paved over with high-rises and run by people in tailored suits. It's alligators and strip clubs and old men in Speedos, and a mythology built out of hijinks so bizarre they could only have been dreamt up by that most quintessentially American creature, Florida Man. All of which makes the Sunshine State fertile terrain for quirky crime dramas, the latest of which is ABC's Tampa-set RJ Decker. The two broadcast hours (44ish minutes without commercials) sent to critics try to take advantage of this humid locale by sending its characters on breezy murder mysteries sprinkled with oddball details, with mildly amusing results. So far, though, it's short on perhaps the most crucial ingredient for selling this milieu in the long term: a lead who actually seems like he belongs there. Related Stories TV 'Scrubs' Returns to Sacred Heart, Older and (a Little Bit) Wiser TV TV Ratings: State of the Union Draws 32.6 Million Viewers, Down From 2025 RJ Decker The Bottom Line Plenty of sun, not enough scruff. Airdate: 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 3Cast: Scott Speedman, Bevin Bru, Adelaide Clemens, Kevin Rankin, Jaina Lee OrtizCreator: Rob Doherty, based on the novel 'Double Whammy' by Carl Hiaasen Not that RJ Decker, played by Scott Speedman, is an unlikable or unworthy hero. A former news photographer, he's convicted in the first few minutes of an assault that, okay, he did technically commit. But he was in extreme emotional distress, having just documented the crime scene of his own slain colleague. And anyway, he swears, it wasn't nearly as bad as the rich-brat victim makes it out to be. He is nevertheless locked up, damned by perjurious but passionate testimony from the young man's sister, Emi (Jaina Lee Ortiz). Two years later, RJ has completed his prison sentence and reinvented himself as a private investigator - though not one successful enough to reliably make rent on his trailer, perched at the edge of a growing sinkhole. But when he stumbles across a murder eerily similar to his coworker's, he throws himself into the pursuit of justice, with reluctant help from his ex-wife, Cath (Adelaide Clemens), who is conveniently a journalist; her current wife, Mel (Bevin Bru), who is even more conveniently a cop; and his own femme fatale, Emi, who most conveniently of all turns out to be a well-heeled and well-connected lawyer. The premiere episode suffers, as many premiere episodes do, from the weight of setting up all this exposition. It also struggles initially to find the right tone. An opening conversation about RJ's love of Almond Joy candy bars is too cutely symbolic by half, while a later monologue about his lingering trauma around documenting the crime scene of his own slain colleague feels too heavy for the show's otherwise sunny tone. Still, the series, created by Rob Doherty (Elementary) based on the novel Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen, would seem to have most of the ingredients required for a solid procedural. If Cath, Mel and Emi haven't made strong impressions just yet, their respective jobs and relationship statuses should provide enough drama for seasons to come. The premiere's mystery feels a touch too gloomy and predictable, but the second episode's is entertainingly twisty, starting with an illegal Venus flytrap operation (a plant that feels Floridian in spirit, even if it's a plot point that it's native to the Carolinas) and winding through a male strip club called Manatease and a natural-health company on its way to a satisfying solution. What RJ Decker does not have, however, is a convincing lead. The RJ that comes through in the writing is exasperating yet irresistible, the sort of dude who'll try his ex-wife's patience by begging for a place to crash when his trailer finally topples into the aforementioned sinkhole, but also the sort of dude who'll devote himself tirelessly to exonerating an innocent man sentenced to prison. He's a bit of a hustler but even more of a do-gooder, a knight in scuffed armor and flip-flops. The RJ we actually see, on the other hand, is perfectly genial, but neither charming nor obnoxious enough to leave much of a mark. Though it's certainly possible Speedman will grow into the part as the season progresses (again, I've only seen two episodes), he comes off as simultaneously too sweaty and too clean-cut in the early going. Which is to say, like a handsome TV actor trying very hard to look scuzzy rather than a guy who feels naturally at home in this sandy, seedy universe. It doesn't help matters, either, that RJ Decker is arriving relatively soon after another Hiaasen-based, Flori