Season 2 of The Cleaner premieres tonight on A&E at 10pm EST and below is my early review of tonight’s episode, “Hello America.”

You can watch the first 10 minutes of the premiere here.

A&E – William’s (Benjamin Bratt) former sponsor Pauline Kmec (Whoopi Goldberg) resurfaces when he is called to help an addict she currently sponsors. Davis (Gary Cole), a former friend and fellow program member, is a high-profile national news anchor and a spokesperson for recovery, but is struggling with his sobriety in the face of his wife’s (Jayne Brook) battle with cancer. William juggles the case while moving back in with his wife Melissa (Amy Price-Francis) to create a façade of happiness while her parents (Mariette Hartley and Barry Newman) are in town.

The introduction was very attention grabbing. This introduction foreshadows what is to come in the middle of the episode and is just as attention grabbing once that time comes. What I found the most interesting was the length an addict would go to in order to sneak his habit right in the public eye or even get his/her last fix before getting clean. Guest star, Gary Cole’s character Davis truly was heartbreaking to see. So it was good to see the crew again, helping Davis get clean. The chemistry between Benjamin Bratt and Guest Star, Whoopi Goldberg was perfect. I would love to see her role on this show expand, however she has The View to attend to on the East Coast. Let’s just hope that the door is open for her to appear again. Overall, I enjoyed this episode and it is worth the watch. It was more of a somber introduction to a season as opposed to a lighthearted (is that even possible for this show?) and adventurous season premiere that I am used to with the majority of the TV shows that I watch.

The Cleaner is inspired by the life of Warren Boy and as a result of this inspiration, it is a very dark show…positive intentions but dark. This is not cookie cutter entertainment. That’s not what an addict, their families, and friends go through when an addict needs to get clean. I applaud the writers for portraying this show in a genuine light and not creating the show solely for ratings, etc… This is the real deal. So if you can handle that, definitely tune in every Tuesday at 10/9c.