The Cleaner TV Review: SFGate

The Cleaner: Drama. 10 p.m. Tuesdays on A&E.

It's not completely surprising that A&E, one of the most addled of all cable channels, has decided to enter the realm of scripted fare - hey, all the kids are doing it. But the manner and timing of it seem a little odd.

A&E long ago abandoned the notion of truly being an arts and entertainment channel, focusing instead on cheap and often stupid reality series to light the way. At the same time, the channel bought a lot of syndicated TV standards, such as "The Sopranos," "24," "Crossing Jordan," etc., which sent mixed messages to its viewers: We like drama, but we'd rather spend our money on "Dog the Bounty Hunter" or "Gene Simmons Family Jewels."

But with all the niche channels jumping into the scripted-series game, A&E finally leaped as well, this time with a drama called "The Cleaner," starring Benjamin Bratt as William Banks, a recovering addict who will do anything necessary to help addicts find help. And any means necessary includes kidnap, a little roughhousing and an injection here or there to subdue them (or even save them).

Granted, A&E does already have "Intervention," the reality series. But this is a bigger deal. And certainly more ambitious. "The Cleaner" also has Grace Park from "Battlestar Galactica" and Kevin Michael Richardson ("Knights of Prosperity") as two of Williams' helpers in his nontraditional for-hire business. If you want to be crass, in some ways, this perfectly crosses "Intervention" and "Dog the Bounty Hunter," but apparently the real inspiration came from Warren Boyd, on whom William is loosely based.

Though elements of "The Cleaner" are fictionalized, the producers found inspiration in Boyd's real-life work and thought it would make a swell television drama.

In many ways, it does. Though "The Cleaner" in no way approaches the top-notch fare of AMC or FX, it competes well in the arena of TNT and USA series. That is, "The Cleaner" is a solid drama with true grit but several more obviously telegraphed moments or twists than you'll find in the upper tier of cable. But Bratt does well here, a welcome leap forward from A&E's "Andromeda Strain" miniseries.

He certainly has a lot to work with. His character, high on drugs as his daughter was born, made a pact with God that if the family got through it and he got clean, he would be a sort of "avenging angel," sweeping the streets of people suffering the same fate he did and helping right their lives.

This is where it gets tricky. Though William has a tumultuous home life - a wife, two kids and a pretty clear track record of being there for everybody else but them since his newfound calling - there's also this issue of talking to God. Out loud. In public.

God is tricky business on television. Most people don't like politics or God meddling in their entertainment. But "The Cleaner" strikes a kind of big-tent, all-souls approach to religion. William isn't speaking to a God who, ahem, lords it over those he saves. He's not preaching Catholicism or Pentecostalism - it's kind of a belief-in-a-higher-power thing that conveniently skirts denominations.

And yet, talking out loud to God is odd. It's possibly divisive. And though it could be construed as an interesting device in dramatic principle, it comes off as coy (though, strangely enough, not too preachy). Does he really have to speak directly to God so that everyone else can hear him? In an otherwise sane person, this seems like an odd tic (and completely unbelievable).

William's day job appears to be running an auto shop, but he's at his best directing his small band of eager helpers (all of whom have some connection to William saving them) around Los Angeles helping strangers. This is quite a departure for Park, who plays it sassy, sexy and spunky here, not her measured "Battlestar Galactica" persona. And Richardson, who was superb as the low-key, heavyset wannabe criminal in "Knights of Prosperity," also stretches. There's a lot of potential and material in "The Cleaner," and it was enough to spur A&E to green-light its second drama ("The Beast" with Patrick Swayze), which is about to go into production.

"The Cleaner" is darker than your normal midlevel cable drama. Addiction and God talk are bigger themes than one normally finds in that arena. But it's solid for what it is, despite the worrisome gimmick and sometimes obvious story.

If A&E hasn't driven everyone away with its ludicrous reality junk, this new foray into scripted material may bring its own kind of redemption.