Transporter (Season One)

Zach Goodier

First off, Transporter doesn’t star our favorite transporter, and he isn’t driving a BMW (he likes Audis, now). So, is there any hope for this TV spin-off of the original action flick? We have Frank Martin taking on different jobs every episode, and he generally runs into complications along the way, which usually land an attractive girl in his lap, often literally. Then, cue exciting car chase with lots of engines roaring and tires squealing, and then he delivers the package, loses the girl so he can be ready for the one next episode, then go home until next episode.

The BMW phase is over, Frank has moved on to Audi now. 

That about sums up the entire premise of the show. Frank relies on his contact, Catarina, to organize and set up jobs for him, and she helps him navigate along the route and advises him when she picks on trouble from traffic, news, or police channels. All in all, this does feel like a realistic, intelligent setup that lends a bit more realism to the entire thing. Inspector Tarconi also returns, but usually not in a significant role.

At least you'll recognize one face here.

Other than Frank, there isn’t all the much going on for characters, aside from some side stuff with Catarina, and a group that is keeping tabs on Frank. But mostly, about everything going on is copied from the film. Car chases and fist fights are commonplace, and Frank is almost always working for shady characters with questionable intentions and often dangerous cargo.

Frank has some attractive support coming in from Carla

I’d say this show is great if you really couldn’t break away from the film, and love everything it did. However, it doesn’t really add anything to the formula, and it tries to stick to the formula likely out of fear of straying from it and upsetting fans, but it makes the entire series feel repetitive with a very slow lead-in to the actual threat Frank faces. This means you won’t see much that you haven’t seen before, just put on fast-forward to fit in an hour-long episode. Including Inspector Tarconi does lend some legitimacy to the series, but not having Jason Statham does make everything seem somewhat awkward at first, as they act like there is no change to speak of. After a while, though, you can just role with it, but this never really feels like anything more than an attempt to copy the original film.

Good:

-Fun car chases.

-Heart-pounding action.

-An original cast member came back to lend some legitimacy to the series, even if it’s a minor role.

Bad:

-Doesn’t add to the formula.

-Episodes feel rushed in terms of pacing to fit a 1 hour time slot.

-Conspicuous lack of Jason Statham in a very Jason Statham style feature.

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10