Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Inmate To Roommate’ On A&E, Where Ordinary People Take In Released Prisoners To Help Them Re-Enter Society

On the heels of Adults Adopting Adults, A&E is bringing viewers another reality show that illustrates more unusual living arrangements. This time, they follow eight people as they welcome former inmates into their homes, right after they’ve been released from prison.

INMATE TO ROOMMATE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A disclaimer that explains that the program where released prisoners move into people’s homes has helped reduced recidivism, and that the “returning citizens” have made these arrangements on their own.

The Gist: Inmate To Roommate documents 8 ordinary people who have decided to house various inmates as they’re released from prison. Of course, in each case, there are friends and family around them that express their doubts, and the introductory segment that plays clips from the season (as well as the “this season on” clip package at the end of the episode) shows that there’s going to be tension coming from both the former inmates and the people who opened up their homes to them.

Highlighted in the first episode is Mark and Sharna, a church-going couple; through a prison pen-pal service, Sharna became friends with Bill, who is coming off an 18-year stretch that was extended after an escape. She started writing him when “I was having problems with my marriage,” and it seems like Mark is just going along with it. Their friend Alicia not only points out that a female-male pen-pal relationship is unusual, but they need to be aware of any red flags. She should know about those red flags, as she’s a 14-time convict that’s been clean for the last 8 years. Mark is ready to set down some very restrictive rules as a condition of Bill staying.

Dr. Henry, a psychologist, is taking in Darquavion, a former patient who has been in prison for a home invasion. He claims he’s not a hoarder, but his house shows otherwise. Robert is bringing in Aaron, who served a racketeering stint, and is the son of his nurse. Robert’s son Michael is completely skeptical. Artie is bringing in Jovan, who thinks she “has a heart of gold;” they got to know each other via a mutual friend. She knows what it’s like, as she did a prison stint in her 20s.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The format of Inmate To Roommate will be familiar to anyone who has watched any of the shows in the 90 Day Fiancé franchise. It also resembles the recent A&E series Adults Adopting Adults.

Our Take: Like Adults Adopting Adults, Inmate To Rommate seems to be less concerned with examining how much better returning citizens fare when they have place to go and some structure in their lives and more concerned with conflict and confrontation.

We see it when each of the first four “roommates” voice particular concerns about how they live or their reservations about the returned citizens to make for strong foreshadowing. We explained the problems with Mark and Sharna above, but we find out from Dr. Henry that he’s concerned that DQ will be too concerned with partying and being with women to get his life back on track. Artie is, as she says, “OCD about my bathroom,” and that likely extends to the rest of her house. Robert doesn’t even hear from Aaron’s mother in the week leading up to his release, and that radio silence concerns him.

Listen, we get it: This is a reality show, not a documentary. We’re not going to spend however many hours this show will be on seeing these people get along and the lives of the people trying to get back on their feet steadily improve. Will there be happy endings? Maybe. But along the way, we’re going to see all the conflict, and it’s going to be initiated from both sides.

We already see Mark creating a long list of rules that’s going to make Bill feel like he never left prison, and that there could be potential conflict with Mark and Sharna over it. There’s going to be the usual chorus of doubts and “What the hell are you thinking?” coming from friends and family. In the coming attractions, Jovan is served with papers. Those are the moments A&E and the producers count on, but as usual they leave us with the queasy feeling that no one who watches will get any more insight into how returned citizens struggle to rebuild their lives after prison and how these arrangements help.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After a ten hour drive and sleeping in her car, Sharna waits for a car with Bill in it to pull up so the two of them can meet for the first time.

Sleeper Star: Artie feels like the person who most genuinely knows what her future roommate is going through, and given the fact that she’s in daily pain because of various degenerative conditions, she’s definitely making a big sacrifice here.

Most Pilot-y Line: You know the producers are really leaning on Mark and Sharna’s religious background when they show Sharna driving to pick up Bill and singing Amy Grant’s “This Is My Father’s World.” By the way, she’s not singing along with the car stereo.

Our Call: SKIP IT. If you’re looking for pure reality conflict and dysfunction, you’ll likely love Inmate To Roommate. But the show feels like another missed opportunity to us. We’re not asking for the show to be a boring docuseries, but a little more balance would be nice.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.