Shawn Hatosy plays the obnoxious, corrupt, cynical, notorious, and lovestruck Detective Terry McCandless in the CBS summer replacement drama Reckless. In the first picture above you see Terry with his formerly disgraced cop father Pat McCandless, the reason for much of Terry's self-centered thinking and corruption. Like father, like son. To a degree. Pat McCandless lives with Terry until this scene where Terry confronts him about the bombing of Lee Anne Marcus's home and Pat is hauled away by the Charleston PD.
Terry McCandless is the primary focus of an undercover operation in the CPD investigating corruption in the department. In the second picture you see Terry with a briefcase full of money received from a gun-runner, who is a commercial celebrity and seller of jet skis, for delivering a gym bag full of unmarked handguns from the evidence locker and for which he uses Detective Preston Cruz to assist him, not realizing Preston is the Deputy Chief of Police's plant to expose Terry and his corrupt operations.
Terry's an enigma. He's got that bad boy persona with just a hint of goodness surfacing when it's unexpected. "Boy" being the descriptive word of choice because of his young and cocky behavior and looks, even when he's in huge trouble or danger, and because he seems to be a total sap when under the spell of Lee Anne Marcus. But the savvy side of Terry rises up when put in a pinch, when he's forced to shift the blame in order not to be caught. It finally backfires on him when Jamie Sawyer's assistant Vi Briggs discovers he bribed her daughter to plant a camera in Jamie's office. This act gets him suspended from the force until he agrees to testify honestly at Lee Anne's trial. Terry's endless bag of tricks for survival at all costs explodes on the witness stand.
He intimately understands the ability to use people for personal gain, and when the supposed love of his life tries it on him, he regains a measure of his self-control and self-respect. Even if we're not sure it will last.
It's obvious Terry's gotten his wily ways from his bullying father who ultimately seems to want to protect his son. The McCandless motto seems to be "Do unto them before they can do it to you." They're survivors who know how to exploit the system and beyond to secure what seems to motivate them the most: money and power. Pat McCandless put in years on the force until his crooked ways caught up to him and left him fired without a pension and living somewhat vicariously through his son. Terry seems to value his work on the force, telling Lee Anne in the Season Finale that there's no place he'd rather be and that he has "a nose for bad people", probably because he can be one so easily.
In Terry's final scene once he's reinstated to the force, there's a nighttime call regarding a shooting. We see him arriving at the scene of the firm where Roy Rayder and his former father-in-law work, and in slow-motion we observe the suspicious, cautious, thought-provoking look on his face leaving us wondering who he suspects might have done this. With his "nose" will he really discern who's responsible and then will his tendency to manipulate crime interfere with justice?
In spite of the dark sides to Terry McCandless and what appear to be fairly simple motivations, his character generates a deeper complexity than his overt actions personify, giving him just the minimal sense of appeal. As viewers, we tend to forgive his iniquities because of those brief moments when an almost heroic action appears, no matter how outrageously delivered, and when that "little boy" look of getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar brings an even briefer sense of regret.
Shawn Hatosy pulls off Terry McCandless with ease and perfection. Another great casting decision for the crew of Reckless.
Father, we are all corrupted until we give you access to our hearts. You make us new, clean. Help us to stay connected to you, Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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