After several minutes of talking and laughing, Sue Thomas dumbfounds her new friend with two small words: “I’m deaf.” At first, he thinks she’s joking. Then, incredulously, he asks her how she knows what he’s saying. “I read lips,” she replies simply. “I sign, too, if you’re interested.” This conversation might sound farfetched, but reality has a way of being much more surprising than it’s often credited for. In the early 2000s, a TV show was created based on the true story of a woman with the gumption to join law enforcement despite her deafness. Her amazing ability to read lips was an indispensable tool for surveillance. She has been called “the FBI’s secret weapon.” The television series, Sue Thomas: F.B.EYE, is more than worth watching for its well-crafted storyline, family-friendliness, strong values, and overall appeal and purpose.
First of all, the show’s storyline is very well-crafted. The situations that Sue and her team at the FBI face on a day to day basis are varied; they aren’t constantly working on armed robberies but deal with all sorts of crimes, as well as the both likely and unlikely crooks from every walk of life who commit them. Often, they must simultaneously balance work from multiple cases and juggle priorities when faced with the choice of either solving an art fraud or intercepting a terrorist attack.
Some people may have minimal interest in a law enforcement show with agents in action, serious debriefings peppered with acronyms, and case conundrums. They assume that they will either be bored or just lost and, therefore, are disinclined to watch the show. However, the plotline is designed to be followed easily enough. Also, since Sue is a new recruit and has to learn the ropes of law enforcement, she has about as much to learn as everyone watching the show. These times when Sue needs something explained to her are both needed in the show (and are fairly frequent at the beginning) and are used to the viewer's advantage as they learn with her.
Furthermore, even if the audience has less interest in some of the FBI cases, there’s always much more to each episode than FBI work. The characters are diverse, complex, and lovable, interacting with each other believably. This provides much depth of character development for the television series. For every case Sue’s team is handed there is generally an amusing subplot capturing anecdotes from the everyday life of one agent or another to go with it. Every episode has delightful debate and dialogue as well as the occasional practical joke. Sue encounters this old tradition of office pranks on her first day when she discovers that every article on her desk from her phone to her pen is glued down. The show is appealing both for its plot and for the people who are a part of it.
The incorporation of ASL (American Sign Language) is also an enjoyable bonus to the show. All who seek to learn ASL quickly discover that it cannot be mastered overnight. Sue’s friends pick up some basic knowledge of ASL from her, and they laugh at each other’s mistakes as they learn. This addition to the show is not at all boring: it sparks interest in the language and shows off some of its beauty and complexity.
A disinterested person may point out that whole conversations that take place in absolute silence and can only be understood with the provided subtitles are tedious. However, the discourse is rarely uninteresting, and the few scenes which must be read rather than heard are too short to cause most viewers impatience. Moreover, most signing is translated aloud by Sue for the benefit of other people in the conversation who are less fluent in ASL or else don’t know it at all. Consequentially, the subtitles are few and far between. ASL is an inseparable part of Sue Thomas’ life, and she is equally involved in both the deaf and hearing worlds as she makes life-long friends in each of them.
Secondly, though the film industry markets a variety of different kinds of entertainment, it is rare to find a show with a compelling plotline that is free of content giving it a rating which suggests that it is not viewing material for what has been termed the “general audience.” However, unlike many TV shows out there of any genre, this show does not include strong language or inappropriate scenes. What it does have are strong morals and uplifting content, making it a very family-friendly show. Sue’s character is mainly to be thanked for contributing this to the show. One notable example of this is her dealings with the most difficult agent in her work unit, Miles Leland. He is openly hostile toward Sue at the beginning of the season due to a deep grudge he holds against her, and he does everything he can to make it difficult for the rookie to get settled in the new and challenging FBI work setting. When Sue becomes aware that their supervisor wants to transfer Miles for his efforts to discredit her, she vouches for Miles instead of against him.
The most striking thing about this instance is that after Sue reassures the supervisor and saves Miles’ job she doesn’t see any need to draw attention to it. Instead, she quietly goes on with normal life. She is happy to be able to return Miles’ antagonism with kindness without anyone being the wiser, including Miles himself. This says something about Sue’s character and about the things she thinks are important. Keeping score is not one of them.
One of the most powerful things about Sue’s character is her honesty. You can see how sensitive her conscience is when she struggles with reluctance to confront someone or admit something to them. She rejects the idea of cheating in a friendly but competitive football game by reading the lips in the enemy huddle to learn their game plan despite pressure from a teammate. She confronts dishonesty in others and expresses concern for the dishonest person as well as the deceived because she knows that in the long run the wrongdoer will be harmed as well. When it comes to inner battles over integrity, Sue’s conscience wins after only a short struggle, or else it wins instantly.
One might not think that a show can be classified as family-friendly when there are episodes involving things like terrorist threats or serial killers. However, most episodes don’t involve this sort of thing, and even the scariest episodes have far more suspense than violence. While it is true that some episodes have themes of darker danger, there aren’t many, and they also provide a sense of realism because they display a variety of different kinds of FBI cases. There is also a total lack of graphic imagery: the acquirement of bandages and a black eye is about the highest level of injury to which any character ever ascends to. The producers seem to avoid gore almost as strenuously as they do the usage of strong language.
For example, the very camera work has a way of capturing the action without focusing on or prolonging the violence. A chase scene at the beginning of the show took an unexpected twist and culminated in a man being hit by a car when he dashed out into a busy street. But the actual impact of the vehicle is not shown onscreen. Instead, a screeching of tires on pavement is heard, and the next moment viewers are presented with agents in front of a stopped car asking the gathering bystanders to move on. The victim is flat on his back and would have seemed to be merely unconscious if he had not been proclaimed dead. The entire scene is brief and the end is short and somber but not scary. So, suspense is the key word when it comes to themes which might cause anxiety in younger viewers, not violence, and this element can be found just as easily in some cartoons.
This is the manner in which the overall show is presented. And for those who would rather avoid the worst of the conflict, there is also the option of skipping over the most intense episodes instead of completely rejecting all three seasons. Those who skip a few episodes needn’t be afraid of missing crucial information that will affect their understanding of the rest of the show. The storyline doesn’t carry from episode to episode, but instead each episode holds its own self-contained plot that is usually fully resolved instead of ending with a cliffhanger. One could even watch them somewhat out of order without confusion.
Finally, this show delivers when it comes to providing a story with a point. This show has more depth of character and story than many newer and much more expensive productions. It is true that the show is older and may not appeal to people who like thrilling, fast-paced, or edgy plots, stunning camera quality, and cool effects. They might additionally judge Sue Thomas: F. B. EYE as corny or contrived. But big-budget films that seek to blow the audience away with breathtaking cinematography lack something that this show has: purpose.
Sue Thomas: F. B. EYE succeeds in delivering a tangible, meaningful message where other movies and television shows fail to convey anything like it at all. It gives a person something to take back to reality with them. Maybe part of this is because the show is actually based on something real. The character of the real Sue Thomas is carried over into the show, not just her fun nature but also her Christian faith and love of God. The “heroes” in so many stories don’t measure up to their own standard. The protagonist should be judged more by his heart motive and less by the amazing show that he puts on, but the audience is rarely presented a character who fits into anything but the second category. However, Sue presents the audience with lessons about selflessness, honesty, friendship, and more. She is more than a good character; her character is good.
Sue Thomas: F.B.EYE is a wonderful show, and it deserves to be much more well-known than it is. It is like The Andy Griffith Show in that it is about law officers and the day-to-day amusement and difficulty that they bring into each other’s lives. And much like the old Griffith show it can be enjoyed by the whole family. Those who have little interest in checking this show out are missing more than they realize. It is definitely worth watching, and it is even more worth the investment of bringing all three seasons home. Even though it came off the air over a decade ago, it is still as good as it ever was. It might even be better.
