You know a good pilot when you see one.

Because a good pilot is one that makes you desperate to know what will happen next. It's really that plain and simple. And Average Joe Season 1 Episode 1 is a good pilot.

An exciting setup, intriguing characters, and dynamics will always be a recipe for success.

The premise of Average Joe is pretty basic on its surface; while mourning his father's death, the titular character discovers said father had a whole other life involving drugs, money, and an angry mob looking for their Lamborghini.

It's basic but also a lot to process, and we're going through the motions of discovery right alongside Joe, who is every bit the average man the title describes.

By all accounts, Joe is a good man. He's got a loving wife and daughter and friends that he adores. His life doesn't seem extraordinary, but it's enough to keep him happy.

We don't know too much about Joe and Teddy's relationship, but you can infer they were close enough for his death to leave a pretty big void in Joe. And it's why the revelation that he didn't know his dad as well as he thought he did throws him for such a loop.

One of the greatest strengths of Average Joe lies in its ability to be both a dark, dark drama and a comedy all at once.

It's hard to describe the delicious backlash that comes from watching someone's back get broken viciously in one scene, to side-splitting laughter as Joe and Leon sit around with dead bodies littering the room discussing Leon's fee for helping Joe find a way out of the mess he got himself in to.

These kinds of shows don't always work, especially when the comedy is too jarring or doesn't land correctly. And that could easily be the case here when the violence is so graphic, but it just works.

And it's not a little laughter that barely makes a sound. No, this series will have you barking out at the sheer audacity of what's being thrust in your face.

The pilot, even more so than Average Joe Season 1 Episode 2, is just fantastic in balancing the heavy stuff and the banter, allowing for an arresting hour of television.

And a lot of that is due to the incredible casting, which sees Deon Cole headlining a series like he deserves and showcasing both the comedic chops he's known for and an outstanding dramatic performance as well.

He makes for a wonderful lead, as Joe is often torn, as he quickly realizes how in over his head he is while also acknowledging he doesn't really have a way to get out of the situation he's now in.

Cole is often tasked with Joe wanting to go over the deep end while also trying to do the right thing, and you can see the emotions constantly playing out across his features.

Cole has to do much of the heavy lifting, but the supporting cast is right there to pick him up. And to say the supporting cast is solid doesn't do them enough justice.

Angela: Are you leaving, too?
Leon: Yeah. Cathy’s gotta get home and watch the Investigation Channel. It’s murder week.
Cathy: Everybody ain’t got to know my business.

• Permalink: Everybody ain’t got to know my business.

Malcolm Barrett and Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, in particular, are fantastic as Leon and Cathy, whose marriage has clearly seen better days. They steal almost every scene they're in, and if I walked away with one thing I wanted to see even more of, it was how this newfound adventure affects their marriage.

Cathy had one foot out the door and was very unapologetic about it before everything went downhill. And Leo seemed more or less content in his mundane existence while recognizing it was slowly killing his spirit.

Just the simple act of Leon stepping up and in place of her got Cathy seeing him in a different light, and it'll be interesting to see how their dynamic evolves and what the group dynamic winds up being in the long run.

Right now, everyone is on the same page, albeit some reluctantly, but the goal truly was to get rid of the bodies first and foremost. From there, they still have a lot of things to figure out.

Joe seemed to have made up his mind fairly early after Georgi and Dimitri were disposed of that he wanted to go after the money himself, and on the one hand, he's curious and wants to dig deeper into Teddy's past.

But on the other hand, he, nor Leon, nor Touch, understood the gravity of what they were getting involved in.

At no point while they were in the office did I see anyone try to do some digging into Dimitri's family or anything. Not like a quick Google search would tell us all the ins and out of the Dzugashvili crime family, but it didn't seem like they even had a clue about the depths of the crime they were getting themselves into.

Having a cop on their side will probably pay dividends at some point down the line, but Touch won't do them much good if he can't take care of himself.

One thing that was also great about the pilot was that they gave you just enough of each character to whet the appetite. Is Touch a corrupt cop? It doesn't seem like he goes out of his way to be, but then again, we have yet to see much of him on the job.

He's got a sad past that we see play out at the beginning of the second hour, and it adds context to the money he leaves anonymously on who we now know is his daughter's home.

But why is he putting himself on the line like this?

Why are any of them?

You were right. We’re not these kind of people.

Joe [to Angela]

• Permalink: You were right. We’re not these kind of people.

It's a question you can't help but ask because they really aren't those kinds of people, as evidenced by their numerous errors.

Joe wants to delve into the other side of the man he admired, and Cathy wants to live a real-life Dateline episode. But Leon? Touch? If everyone is after the money, they're being awfully naïve in thinking there won't be a parade of Russian mobsters coming to their doors next.

Nicolai is by and large a looming threat at this point, but we only get a few glimpses of him here, which adds to the mystery of everything.

He's a gangster and, by all means, a powerful one, but he seems to be a father first.

Dimitri was in Pittsburgh playing the long game, apparently, cozying up to Jennifer for however long so he could try to figure out where the money went.

But clearly, Nicolai wasn't expecting him to die during this mission, and once he finds out that he's gone, you have to assume he will go all-out in trying to figure out who killed him.

The one thing on Joe's side is that everyone who knows he killed Dimitri is on his side or dead now.

So, what's the next play here when Daddy dearest inevitably comes searching for answers? You have to assume he'll be going to Jennifer first, and I'm not convinced any of them have a good enough poker face to get away with this.

Ten million is a lot of money. Life-changing money. But is it worth being hunted down by mobsters? And that's to say nothing of the police, which will also be all over this.

Joe's life, and the lives of those who love him, is about to be anything but average now. And I will be seated this season to see all the spicy fallout.

Extra, Average Facts

• There were several graphic scenes, but the worst was the breaking of the fingers. It was just way too real.

• Equally as explicit was Touch and Cathy chopping up the body and smearing it with peanut butter. But the way they danced while doing it made the scene so uncomfortably hilarious that it was hard to be grossed out. An impressive feat, honestly.

• I feel for Jennifer because her boyfriend is dead, and he was a lying liar who lies. But she better get on board quickly! Joe had to protect himself and his family, and now she has to protect him!

• I absolutely love seeing Tammy Townsend in anything! She has always had great comedic timing, and she and Cole already play off each other so well.

• Leon driving around afraid of the cameras and STILL ending up on camera getting that peanut butter. He's already my favorite character.

• Is that whole Russian code and killing yourself in public to spare your family something that actually happens within these criminal organizations? That was unbelievable.

• I can't get over this whole story being BASED ON A TRUE STORY. My mind is absolutely blown.

Alright, guys, now it's your turn to let me know what you thought about the first two episodes of Average Joe! I was pleasantly surprised by how downright entertaining it was and how much I gasped, hid my eyes, and laughed out loud.

It's extremely rare for anything to invoke all those emotions, and I applaud the series for hitting the mark.

Drop into the comments with all your thoughts about the hour so we can discuss it all! I'll be here every week covering the series!

Whitney Evans is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lover of all things TV. Follow her on X.