Powerful writing makes mystery-thriller 'Gun' a hit

By Anna Kovalszki
Daily Arts Writer

A loud bang resounds somewhere in the background, followed by three shells dropping to a wooden floor. The shells spell "Gun," the new anthology series from producers Robert Altman ("The Player") and Jim Sadwith ("Sinatra"). The premise of the show is that a pearl-handled semi-automatic gun circulates from one person to the next, each time involving new mysteries, characters and situations. This setup deviates from the norm, and because so many stars are scheduled to appear in the episodes (i.e. Kathy Ireland, Rosanna Arquette, Martin Sheen, Daniel Stern, and Sean Young), the new series possesses great potential for success.

REVIEW
	Gun ABC Saturdays at 10 p.m.

This Saturday's episode features Martin Sheen as a soon-to-retire detective in need of a last juicy case. After the murder of a wealthy Japanese businessman, he gets his wish. The usual type of suspects abound: the young American wife (Nancy Travis), who is a power-and-money-hungry personage with a lover; the lover himself (Chris McDonald), who is also the Japanese businessman's attorney and conducts an operation to win the California State Lottery. The episode is filled with the usual allusions to their guilt, their obsession with wealth as well as their hunger for each other. The show emphasizes their guilt so much that it leaves no room for the viewer to even remotely suspect anyone else. But we know that the writers can't allow them to be the killers, for that would create a dull and predictable episode. Therefore, they rely on an illogical alternative for the finish of the story.

"Gun" follows many traditions in mystery-thriller series, like "Twilight Zone," "Mystery" on PBS, and "Murder, She Wrote." Unfortunately, the series lacks the cohesiveness, the true mystery, and the successful aura of these previous shows. The reason for this outcome is that the creators try too hard to come up with something different, thereby including such awkward endings in their different episodes that although they take the viewer by surprise, they do not work well with the substance of the rest of the respective episodes.

If you are in the mood for a murder-mystery, and you like non-traditional circumstances, (but are not looking for anything nearly as interesting as "Pulp Fiction," for example), watch Saturday's episode of "Gun." Perhaps you will find a certain depth in the show and potentially enjoy the strangeness for which the writers undoubtedly strive and definitely achieve.

04-18-97