Easy names. Memorable characters. Tough situations. It’s all a part of Atlantic & Pacific.
We want A&P to be a classically-styled detective noir, with a two-fisted, hard-living hero trying to get back on his feet after a number of personal and professional setbacks.
The idea for the show came from a number of sources, no one more than another: the Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu books, original film noir, classic television detectives like Remington Steele, The Rockford Files and Maddie and Dave from Moonlighting, Strange Days, 19th Century baseball, a touch of The Dresden Files television show and much much more. (There are a number of influences that are yet to come. And some of the ones mentioned above didn’t make it into the final script for the pilot… but could resurface later.)
Personally, I’ve always loved film noir even though the first film noir I remember seeing is Blade Runner, which is technically future noir or cyberpunk, which can definitely co-exist. It’s still one of my favorite movies and the idea of “sci-fi film noir” resonates beyond hard-boiled (if you will) film fans.
The characters in A&P, I think are tortured souls in the way that film noir has traditionally sent otherwise unassuming people through the meat grinder. Honus is haunted by his military service and his desire to find solace in a bottle speaks to how far that torture has gone. People are trying to kill Dita because she used her mind to create something to help herself and others. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the time to consider the ethical and political ramifications of that, but remember what I said about resurfacing later… Cardozo likes Honus, the same way a woman tries to change her bad-tempered boyfriend. Freund’s pain comes from the loss of his best friend and impending senility. The list goes on and on… Rost’s monomania, Minnow’s guilt-as-introversion, DeVoort’s dime-store wisdom… They are archetypes without being stereotypes and I hope that is something that makes you want to watch and see what kind of crazy trip Honus takes each time.
That is not to say that serious topics shouldn’t be treated without some way to strip away the depths of despair. Pathos begets humor and we have that for keeping our heroes sane.
Personally, I like spending time with the inhabitants of A&P – and the talent behind the characters are pretty damned cool people as well – and I sure hope you like it too. We’re here to… entertain you, maybe get a “Wow” or two and… repeat.
Enjoy!
