Cobie Smulders patrols Portland as a badass P.I. in Stumptown trailer

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Grab your party hats and comfortable chair, because it's upfronts week in the land of Hollywood! Today,  ABC is comin' at cha with a promising trailer for STUMPTOWN starring Marvel alumna Cobie Smulder as Dex Parios, a Portland private investigator with slick moves and snarky one-liners to spare.

What in the hell is upfronts week, you ask? It's that magical time of year when viewers get a first-look at the shows that television networks will be serving up next year. Essentially, these trailers get released, and based on the data collected from clicks and views, advertisers are able to gauge the age demographic they should be peddling to. It's math, but with tantilizing trailers instead of complicated word problems.

Based on the Oni Press-published comic book series by author Greg Rucka with art by Matthew Southworth, STUMPTOWN is a hard-boiled crime thriller that centers on Dex, the proprietor of Stumptown Investigations, and a fairly talented P.I. Unfortunately, she's less adept at throwing dice than solving cases. Her recent streak has left her beyond broke—she's into the Confederated Tribes of the Wind Coast for 18 large. But maybe Dex's luck is about to change. Sue-Lynne, head of the Wind Coast's casino operation, will clear Dex' debt if she can locate Sue-Lynne's missing granddaughter. But is this job Dex's way out of the hole or a shove down one much much deeper?

While the above synopsis hails from the first volume of Rucka and Southworth's graphic novel series for STUMPTOWN, the description doesn't appear to be too far off from what we see in the new trailer.

Like last week's IT: CHAPTER TWO trailer, the footage for STUMPTOWN treats viewers to an extended scene from the show. The scene features two bumbling kidnappers rocking out to Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" before Smulder's pissed off Parios breaks free of her restraints and causes a ruckus in the back seat. Before long, the car begins swaying to and fro to the music, as both criminals and Parios take flight courtesy of a roadside construction zone. From that point on, the trailer hits many of the traditional crime series beats, with Smulders and Michael Ealy's Miles Hoffman displaying some fun chemistry as they become aquainted with one another.

STUMPTOWN stars Smulders, Ealy, Mark Webber, Tantoo Cardinal, Adrian Martinez, Blu Hunt, Clayton Chitty, and Toby Levins, among others. Jason Richman wrote the pilot while also serving as an executive producer alongside Ruben Fleischer and David Bernard for The District.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Rucka and Southworth's Stumptown series and I'm rather excited to see what this new show has to offer. My advice is to not let the comedy of this trailer fool you. In addition to peppering laughs throughout the series, Stumptown can turn dark and emotional without warning, so don't be surprised if this show offers plenty of depth, drama, and great character building as well. Here's hoping for great things.