Former 24 baddie Paul Blackthorne is a supernatural sleuth in The Dresden Files.

Harry’s no Angel, but he has his charms.

Even for a genre that tends to share themes and plots, crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden and his Sci Fi series The Dresden Files beg comparisons to the Angel/Buffy family that hardly work in the newcomers’ favor. Like Angel, Harry is a supernatural detective with a fantasy-favorite assistant, a link to some mystical High Council and an as-yet-unexplored dark secret. All that’s missing is the blond vampire-slaying girlfriend - well, that and that magical mix of first-rate wit, chills and drama that made the Buffy-universe the gold standard for such shows.

Still, if you can get past the similarities and tamp down your demands, you’ll find much to like in Dresden, much of it provided by Paul Blackthorne. Probably best known to American audiences for his stint as a 24 villain, Blackthorne makes the transition to flawed hero with ease, adding deadpan humor and a shade of regret to the show’s crime-solving palette.

Based on the books by Jim Butcher, Dresden is a detective story filtered through a magical lens. Harry has his own agency, as witness his wizard ad in the phone book, and a testy/sexually tense relationship with a cop (Valerie Cruz) who sometimes calls on him for help. And he has an assistant, Bob, who is the ghost of a medieval alchemist, played with amusingly restrained hauteur by Terrence Mann.

Sunday’s case finds Harry helping a little boy who sees monsters that may or may not exist. Of course they exist; Dresden is, after all, that kind of show. But there are many different kinds of monsters, and Dresden does a fine job of keeping you guessing what the monstrous plan may be. The same plot-twist compliment can be paid to a future episode that has Harry chasing ghosts, convicts and ancient Egyptian curses.

Like Harry, the show has yet to fully master its tricks. There are a few decent jolts, but nothing is truly frightening or even that threatening. And while the show can be amusing, it’s never exactly side-splitting.

A wonderful wizard? No. But a good one, and with no angels in sight, good may have to be good enough.