When I saw the description for The InBetween last fall, basically that it is a detective show with a person who can talk to the dead, it sounded like Medium and The Ghost Whisperer, or a few other shows in the genre. Most of those shows went for several seasons, and it was a guess but I went with RENEWAL. Now that I’ve seen the first episode, I’m going to predict CANCELLATION, which is disappointing as I enjoyed the show.

In most of these shows, there is one of two things that is part and parcel of episode one. First, there’s the genre where the person is normal and something BIG AND TRAUMATIC happens in episode one, and BAM! They see dead people. Second, or more alternatively, there is a flashback to either a traumatic experience or a lot of backstory to explain how they have dealt with their abilities in their life, usually with the plot device that they’ve always tried to avoid or deny their power, and now something is forcing them to confront it and deal with it. So BAM! They see dead people.

Then, it moves to GHOST OF THE WEEK.

The InBetween doesn’t do that. The premise is that Cassie, a mid-20s-ish woman, has visions. She sees things and she tells her gay adoptive father who’s a police detective. And the visions help him with his cases. In the opener, she sees a woman in a walk-in freezer, lying on a table dead, with her eyes removed. She thinks it is the case he’s working, but when she sees a photo of a missing girl, it’s not the same person. Hop, skip and a jump later, and they find out it is all somehow related. Eventually her visions lead to the bad guy, case semi-closed. However, in the episode, Cassie is also dealing with a young girl who spends time with her and hangs out, even though she’s actually the ghost of a murder victim. The girl’s grandfather went to prison for her murder, and Cassie is helping the little girl come to terms with her death. After she gets a bit of revenge on her pedophile Grandpa.

But the difference in the show is not only what will likely kill it but also what I like about it. The tone and pacing is totally different. Almost a British show, slower, less action. And while I spent the show waiting for the exposition dump of her backstory, it never came. Instead, you get a feel for her almost phoning it in, she’s not actively part of the case or anything. She just tells the detectives what she sees in her occasional visions and they take it from there. It seems almost like she’s passive about it all.

The girl with visions, Cassie, is played by Harriet Dyer. I haven’t seen her before, but she does a decent job. A couple of times, I thought it was Amy Adams but a bit younger. Her adoptive father, Tom, is played by Paul Blackthorne, who I know from watching Arrow. Yet, I never much cared for him on Arrow. I liked him better back on The Gates. It’s hard to get used to the change of accent here, but I like his acting much better.

One small sour note is Justin Cromwell as a new partner for Tom, just moved to town from LA to get a fresh start. You know there’s some sort of big backstory for him, and sure enough, he goes to visit some girl in a coma at the end of the episode. But he’s also a bit inconsistent throughout the episode — skeptical, believer, passionate friend, solid or flaky partner. There’s even a scene where he goes to see Connie, gets in trouble, and goes back AGAIN to see her on his own. Inconsistent character all around.

But the EP ended with a twist. One of the sick bad ghosts pays her a visit at the end of the EP and says they need to talk. I’ll tune in to see, but I don’t think the pace or plotting will garner renewal. Too bad, it has a nicely different feel to the show.