20 Years Ago, FX Premiered an Overlooked 6-Episode Crime Series With a Terminator Star

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Often overlooked by HBO and AMC, FX was nonetheless one of the titans of the prestige television boom of the 2000s, an era that laid the groundwork for the TV landscape today. Cutting-edge comedies like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Atlanta and audacious dramas like The Shield, Justified, and Fargo reinvented the medium while operating within the familiar confines of episodic television.

The channel leaned into the prestige television boom’s fascination with unorthodox subjects by telling stories from the perspective of marginalized people and/or characters who subvert the standards of TV heroes. During FX’s rise to the top of the TV mountain, one critically acclaimed crime thriller, Thief, pushed the envelope with its sophisticated portraits of the criminal underworld and morality. Unfortunately, the 2006 series lasted only six episodes, but now is the time to reclaim this unsung gem.

‘Thief’ Pulls From Michael Mann Movies and Prestige TV of the 2000s

Thief, not to be confused with Michael Mann‘s debut feature film from 1981, aired for a lone season from March 28 to May 2 on FX. Created by Norman Morrill, the series is led by the late Andre Braugher, a symbol of groundbreaking drama on television as the breakout star of the NBC procedural, Homicide. He was given a complex and immersive opportunity as Nick Atwater, an expert thief and mastermind of a criminal crew, who must grapple with grieving his wife’s death while orchestrating a major score. The six episodes of riveting action and suspense are relentless for Nick, as he confronts betrayals, blackmail, death, and endless pursuit from Chinese gangsters and a crooked cop. He seemingly has everyone at his fingertips, but when scores run as high as $30 million, trust is anything but a guarantee.

When it came to the crime genre, a reliable format for network cop dramas, all expectations were subverted. Between the mafia intrigue of The Sopranos and the police procedure and drug trade depicted in The Wire, creators reflected these underworlds with a newfound realism, honesty, and sensitivity. The series shares more than just the title of a Michael Mann film, as Nick Atwater, an assured professional grappling with his emotional conflict, could easily be in the director’s grasp. Told with Mann’s operatic dramatic stakes and the grittiness of a documentary, Thief paints an intoxicating representation of crime, from the rigorous preparation to the fateful execution.

‘Thief’ Paints a Sobering Portrait of Family and Grief

The frequent use of split-screen during heists, drawing from another thriller visionary in Brian De Palma, places you right in the middle of the rapidly moving action. Lacking a seismic police presence, outside the corrupt cop, played by Michael Rooker, the series presents a world run by criminals, where honor and nobility take on drastically different meanings. The series presents a rich tapestry of the underworld as its own ecosystem and manner of communication. For many fans, anytime we cut away from the primary occupation of our antiheroic protagonist, the air is sucked out of the screen. In Thief, you’ll be just as gripped by Nick trying to get her troubled stepdaughter, Tammi (Mae Whitman), to settle down (as well as free her from handcuffs). As adept as he is as a thief, Nick has a lot to learn about fatherhood.

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Thief is a standout showcase for Linda Hamilton, best known as Sarah Connor from the Terminator series, who plays Nick’s fence, a launderer who purchases stolen goods and resells them in the legitimate market. Hamilton has always been an untapped resource who’s never been properly utilized by anyone other than James Cameron, but her supporting turn in the FX series is revelatory. The always reliable and stellar Clifton Collins Jr., who plays a fearsome member of Nick’s crew, brings an unexpected layer of pathos and nuance to the stereotypical criminal heavy. Prestige TV from the 2000s was built on the strength of its leading star, and Andre Braugher, who won an Emmy for his performance, is a force of nature in Thief.

Movies and television innately glorify the criminal underworld, especially denizens who provide as much entertainment and justified morality as Robin Hood figures like professional thieves, but this forgotten FX series strips away the glamor of thieving. Substituting style with danger, Thief demonstrates that easy money is there for the taking, but no score can resolve one’s personal shortcomings. Nick Atwater, played brilliantly by the fierce Andre Braugher, made his own bed, but his overwhelming obstacles make him a captivating, tragic antihero in an era where our most harrowing fears were imbued into powerful figures.