Fox’s Lethal Weapon Season 3 Premiere Even With Season 2 Finale Ratings As Riggs Written Out and Cole Enters Strong.
Deadline reports:
- ‘Lethal Weapon’ Season 3 Premiere: Riggs Gets Respectful Goodbye, Cole Receives Warm Welcome In Series Reset
With all the drama surrounding Clayne Crawford’s behavior and subsequent firing from Fox’s Lethal Weapon, inquiring minds were wondering what the next steps were for the action drama. How would they handle Crawford’s exit? How would Damon Wayans function without him? How easy would it be to insert Seann William Scott’s Wesley Cole into the equation? One would think that the season 3 premiere would be problematic considering the circumstances, but when it comes down to it, everyone involved in this show has a level of professionalism to maintain and Fox did an effortless job of exiting Riggs-era Lethal Weapon and entering Cole-era Lethal Weapon…
…The season 3 premiere closes the chapter on Riggs in the best way possible so that we could all move on from the behind the scenes drama. Scott’s presence gives the show a new found energy and he provides a breath of fresh air void of controversy. Scott’s comedy action sensibilities mesh well with Wayans and he serves as a perfect replacement. But don’t get it twisted — Scott is not Riggs. He’s not trying to be. He’s a new character whose purpose is to fill one-half of an odd couple — and at that, he succeeds.
Despite the regular action we’re used to seeing, this episode felt as if it was the first episode of the first season of a brand new show. The sole purpose of the season opener was to get to know Cole and his story, see Murtaugh reconcile the death of Riggs and establish a relationship between the two. The episode ushered in a new Lethal Weapon — and it did it well. Everything else was just explosive window dressing.
TV Line further reports:
- The rejiggered Lethal Weapon (3.45 mil/0.8…) returned on par with its finale but down from its Season 2 average (4.1 mil/1.0).
Fox has only ordered 13 episodes for Season 3 of Lethal Weapon. Many TV show cannot survive a major cast change like this one, by actor Seann William Scott may help Lethal Weapon buck that trend.
