CMI On TV – Virtue and Vice on ‘Golden Boy’

Marriage takes a hit.

Every episode of “Golden Boy” opens with this line: “In seven years, Detective Walter Clark will become the youngest Police Commissioner in the history of New York City. This is his story.”

A great intro for a great character. The show portrays him as an upstanding gentleman whose virtue makes him destined to rise – a great conservative theme. But there’s a wicked liberal twist.

Walker Clark (Theo James) has a beautiful girlfriend, Margot Dixon (Trieste Kelly Dunn), who’s currently in the process of divorcing the deputy Mayor.

Detective Don Owen (Chi McBride) doesn’t believe it at first, as he says “the kid ain’t that dumb.” When he learns the truth, he asks Walker “[Margot is] a reporter? And the ex-wife of Carlton Holbrook?”

Shrugging it off, Clark responds, “almost ex-wife. Papers aren’t signed yet.”

On liberal TV, the clear hero remains unsullied by the fact that the girl he’s dating – and sleeping with, as we saw in the last episode – is still married, and to the Deputy Mayor!

If it’s not big on morality, at least the show doesn’t wholly condone the stupidity. Don says, “you really know how to stack the odds against yourself, don’t you?” CBS knows how to stack the odds against an otherwise excellent show.