Four episodes in, "Thief" is an exercise in calculated tension; this is the first weekly series to grab me since season one of "The Sopranos." It feel rough, jazzy, messed up the way real life is messed up. Society would probably be better off if every single character in "Thief" were eliminated, but let's face it - "society" is not, never has been and never will be Disneyland.

Yeah, it does looks "ugly" - because it's about seriously ugly things. If you need obvious heroes in your entertainment or think everything should be shot to look like "ER", this is clearly not going to work for you.

It's not very pleasant, but it is riveting. No way I would wait for the DVD to find out what happens.