In the first episode of the show, which is executive produced by Ice-T, Spellman works to create a truce between two rival Crips gangs, the Mansfield Gangsta Crips and the Playboy Gangsta Crips. The pregnant girlfriend of a Playboy Crips member has just been shot to death, and Spellman intervenes immediately, to try to prevent retaliations of any kind. “Tit for tat, that’s how it’s always been,’’ explains Teflon of the Mansfield Crips. Spellman goes to each side, at one point putting on a bulletproof vest in case talks go bad.
It’s pretty impressive that Spellman, who spent four years in jail early in his life, is willing to play such a dangerous role on gang turf, with no real backup except his scruples. Usually, of course, he doesn’t bring along the cameras. But he’s doing the show, I assume, as a way to get his message out and, perhaps, as a tool in his long-term goal to create an organization dedicated to gang prevention and intervention. His ability to persuade gang members to go on camera is a testament to his persistence and charisma, as a number of them willingly share their comments openly on A&E. He also gets gang members to listen to his pleas, saying, “It’s up to us to start a new day.’’
Some of the reality stylizations on “The Peacemaker’’ — Spellman’s voice-over narrating his own actions, for example — feel out of place given the raw subject matter. We’re more used to hearing reality players telling their story in the present tense on the likes of “The Real World.’’ Also, a warm meeting of the rival Crips gangs at the end of the premiere is affecting, but it comes off as too tidy, particularly when Teflon, who has been shot in the chest, leaves the hospital to show up.
But the artificial setups are counteracted by poignant moments, as well as by Spellman’s hard-to-deny passion. After lighting a candle at the sidewalk shrine created for the murdered pregnant woman, Spellman gets in his car and has a small, tearful breakdown. Later, one of the Playboy Crips, Spook, explains his philosophy to the camera: “Right now, I got to the point where I don’t care if I live or die,’’ he says. “Ain’t going to be peace on Earth. . . . They say there’s a heaven, I want to see how it is in heaven.’’ Nope, probably not the kind of hopelessness you’d find over at Team Hasselhoff.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. For more on TV, visit www.boston.com/ae/tv/blog.
