Anna Pigeon Review: Tracy Spiridakos Is Stranded In USA's Middling Park Ranger Crime Drama

USA Network is a decade removed now from the glory days of "Suits," "White Collar," and "Royal Pains," but at least it's still putting out original scripted content, which is a rarity these days on basic cable. Unfortunately, USA's current shows like last year's John Grisham adaptation "The Rainmaker" and new crime drama "Anna Pigeon" — debuting this Friday at 10 p.m. — are cut from the same overly safe, slightly bland cloth. "Anna" does offer some beautiful natural scenery and a compelling lead turn from Tracy Spiridakos, but it's also formulaic and forgettable, lacking any discernible edge or spice.

Spiridakos, who you may recognize from her days on "Chicago P.D." and "Revolution," stars here as the titular Anna, a plucky park ranger who works at a lush national park filled with majestic mountains and trees. (The gorgeous scenery really is one of the biggest selling points "Anna" has to offer; we can practically breathe the crisp mountain air.) Anna does more than just hike around and scold litterers, though. "In this park, I'm a cop," she informs one visitor, using her wit and instincts to solve crimes that take place inside the park — and yes, an alarming number of crimes happen inside this park. (We get a murder, a kidnapping, and a bank robbery in the first three episodes alone.) Now is Anna in any way qualified to solve crimes? No, she's a former stage manager in the New York theater scene. But that doesn't stop her from trying.

Showrunner Morwyn Brebner ("Rookie Blue") finds some clever angles to the national park setting that add a little variety to the proceedings. (The park's popular bald eagle webcam turns out to be a key witness to one crime.) But "Anna" is Canadian — a co-production with Bell Media — and it feels Canadian, i.e., polite and slightly dull. The characters don't have much personality, and the plotting is lackluster, relying on ridiculous twists that don't stand up to even a moment of analysis. The bad guys are dumb enough that they can be caught within one hour, and they confess everything once they're confronted. There's a larger mystery, too, of course, that we learn about through Anna's recurring nightmares about the "random home invasion" that killed her husband. (We've watched TV long enough to know it wasn't random, and we'll probably find that out in the season finale.)

Tracy Spiridakos has a steely presence that makes her believable as a tough-as-nails enforcer — all those years on "P.D." paid off! — and she can handle the show's lighter moments, too. I was also happy to see Paulina Alexis from the criminally underrated "Reservation Dogs" as Anna's fellow ranger Zoey. But "Battlestar Galactica" alum Tricia Helfer is an awkward fit as Anna's therapist sister Molly, who seems to only appear over the phone to give Anna advice from a city sidewalk. "Sons of Anarchy" veteran Kim Coates practically twirls his mustache as slippery poacher Jeremiah, and Anna has a fling with a hunky bartender named Jesse (Cooper Levy), who apparently is contractually obligated to take his shirt off in as many scenes as possible.

"Anna Pigeon" isn't an awful show; it's just a thoroughly mediocre one. It could use more local quirk, like a slightly more dangerous "Northern Exposure" or "Parks and Rec," and when Anna is just hanging out with her fellow rangers and friends, we can actually see glimpses of the show it could be. But instead, it tries too hard to fit itself into a cookie-cutter crime procedural format, piling on the clichés and tropes and throwing plausibility out the window, and it ends up feeling less than satisfying as a result — no matter how beautiful those mountains look.

THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: USA's "Anna Pigeon" boasts some beautiful scenery from our national parks, but it's thoroughly mediocre as a crime drama.