The show's title comes from “private eyes,” yet you get the sense that the “private” was dropped with good reason. Harlan Judd (Tim Daly), of Judd Risk Management, takes on cases that are quirky and usually involve large sums of missing money, the type of cases that most clients would want to keep private. In the course of investigating these cases, as can be expected, the private becomes public, often in embarrassing ways.

Which doesn’t mean there aren’t secrets. Jeff McCann (Eric Mabius), another agent, is sleeping with a coworker’s wife. The sexy Nora Gage (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) has her own agenda that may or may not involve betraying her fellow agents. But with a show titled Eyes, who knows what is really private? On one episode, Judd finds that a “reconciliation” with his estranged wife is being watched with a hidden camera. No, not much privacy there.

What’s also not private is Didion’s sexuality, or his mental issues, which are presented as a matter of fact and not a plot device designed as “message of the week” fodder.

Didion--played with smooth sophistication by actor Rick Worthy--and Judd have been friends for years, and you get the sense that Didion owes Judd for more than getting him a good job once he got out. Given the light spirited nature of Eyes, which zooms in and out of drama, action, and comedy, it’d be easy to have Didion slip into caricature. Not so with Worthy playing him.

Rick Worthy has not only an extensive television and film resume, but considerable stage work as well. Prior to Eyes, Worthy has most recently been seen, in a manner of speaking, on Star Trek: Enterprise as the alien Xindi-Sloth. Then he was offered the role of Chris Didion, and knowing a great opportunity when he saw one, he jumped the chance to play such a role.

Chris Didion is what used to be called the SuperNegro, the perfect black man, designed to counter years of negative stereotyping by Hollywood. Sidney Portier was the first and stands as the marker for all the others who came after. Portier was able to bring a level of depth and humanity that had been lacking for years in Hollywood portrayals.

Unfortunately, Hollywood not only embraced the concept of the SuperNegro, but it did a wonderful job of cranking out one-dimensional ‘good black guys’ and ‘nice black girls,’ and the most common denominator between them all was…they were boring.

But by acknowledging that Didion experienced some damage to his psyche, and by attempting to reconcile his smooth exterior with his violent inner struggles, Worthy gives us a man who defies easy categorization on almost any level. That his inner struggles have nothing to do with his sexuality is a bold statement in and of itself.

In a recent interview with his hometown paper in Detroit, Worthy explained, "I thought he was such a great character, unlike anything I've ever played…I saw him as a tough SOB who is fearless and not afraid to get in your face.... He also has the opportunity to be heroic."

“Heroic”? Such talk is rare when discussing black television characters, and nonexistent when referencing gay or lesbian characters. Gay characters were, and still are, to a large extent, portrayed as victims, or comic relief. Usually, they serve as a plot device meant to demonstrate how liberal-minded the straight hero is by having a gay friend who needed saving.

The men were (and are) usually effeminate and the women were usually victims of rape, which was supposed to explain their lack of heterosexual drive.

Chris Didion turns some of that around, presenting us with a gay man who is not only fully capable of defending himself and anyone he’s working for, but who is also a potential threat. He is not the “nice, safe” gay man that, like the SuperNegro, was created, in many ways, to make straight Hollywood feel good about itself and straight American feel safe around the harmless homosexuals.

When provoked, Didion is menacing, telling a would-be thug, "I'm crazy. I'm really crazy." The thug in question, a gay-bashing Nazi-type character, had the misfortune of harassing Didion’s ex-boyfriend. "You like to beat up faggots, right?" Didion asks the sneering gay-basher, adding "I grew up gay in a world full of people just like you. You think I don't know how to hit back?"

Needless to say, the guy backed off quickly.

And that’s the beauty of Didion's character: he's a “good guy” who might do bad things to you if you mess with him. A gay man who does not need saving, but one you might call, straight or gay, if you were in trouble. In a genre known for pandering to the least common denominator and relying on what has been done before, Rick Worthy’s Didion is a refreshing break from the norm.

Eyes airs Wednesdays at 10pm; visit the official site for more information