I'm not exactly sure what it says about this show that its star is the least interesting thing about the show. There are a lot of spy shows or espionage thrillers. Often, the spies are supposed to be ciphers or their jobs are not to standout or draw attention. It makes it better to be a spy when you don't stand out. Yet, in a dramatic series, the protagonist should feel like an important factor. Strangely, out of the ten episodes here, I didn't really start to care or much notice the protagonist until Episode 9. For the majority of this show leading up to that, the supporting cast is vastly more interesting, and vastly more compelling.
Gabriel Basso (Juror #2 and Hillbilly Elegy) stars as Peter Sutherland, a FBI agent who gets involved with a secret government organization called "Night Action." That organization appears to operate in similar fashion as the fictional IMF from Mission: Impossible (1996). As such, Peter operates like Ethan Hunt, as played by Tom Cruise. Ethan Hunt is essentially a cipher too and the Mission: Impossible films exist as vehicles for over-the-top action scenes for Cruise to perform without the benefit of stunt doubles. For this season, Peter is essentially just an action figure. The chases, shootouts and hand-to-hand fights can be entertaining, but there's not much more to him, not this season.
Luciane Buchanan reprises her role of Rose Larkin, a tech expert who was rescued last season, thanks to Peter. As a result, the two fell in love with each other. They broke up when Peter left the country on a Night Action mission. She hasn't seen or heard from him for almost a year, as she tries to move on, but, due to what happened to her, she suffers from PTSD, including panic attacks and nightmares. She's in therapy and it's good to see how what she experienced having an effect on her mental health. Too many times, characters in these action or spy shows brush off traumatic incidents way too easily.
One of the best spy shows in that regard is Homeland (2011), which was part of a string of shows that center women in the espionage business. A new one called Lioness (2023) is also doing well on streaming services. Despite Basso being on the poster and in all the marketing, the women in this series end up being the most intriguing and the most compelling. Rose is probably my favorite among them, but she bumps up against two other women in yet another complicated plot, which threatens people's lives.
Amanda Warren (The Leftovers and Dickinson) co-stars as Catherine Weaver, a leading member of Night Action. She is the boss of Peter and she's also a liaison between him and the White House. Catherine reports to the President who in this series is also a woman. Catherine is a Black woman who has come up the ranks. She doesn't trust many people, particularly Peter because of some things in his past. She works with him only because he saved the President in the first season and the President insists on having him. She also thinks that being a FBI agent doesn't automatically prepare a person to be a spy.
She especially doesn't trust Peter when his partner is killed during a mission in Bangkok, Thailand, and Peter goes on the run, cutting off contact. Catherine has to find him and also figure out what happened, as well as why his partner was killed. Peter cuts off contact because he's not sure if Catherine or someone in Night Action was behind the killing. This leads both Peter and Catherine to a group of terrorists who are planning an attack in New York City.
Arienne Mandi (The L Word: Generation Q) plays Noor Taheri, an aide or assistant at the Iranian embassy in New York City. It's a part of the United Nations. She works occasionally in the U.N. building. She mainly does secretarial tasks for the Iranian ambassador, Abbas Mansuri, played by Navid Negahban (Aladdin and Homeland). Noor is a woman that doesn't like how her country treats women and how it operates. She is secretly seeking asylum, meaning she doesn't want to go back to Iran. She wants to stay in New York. She also wants to get her family, which consists of her mother and brother, out of Iran and to the United States.
In order to do so, Noor has been in contact with the U.S. government and her contact says she can only get asylum if she spies on the Iranian ambassador and gets dirt on him or any dirt on the Iranian government. She has access to the ambassador's office, but the whole embassy is guarded by Javad, played by Keon Alexander (The Expanse and Tyrant). Javad was a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, a special forces military officer who specializes in counterintelligence. He's the head of security for the ambassador. The only wrinkle is that Javad appears to be romantically interested in Noor, which she tries to use to her advantage.
For the first, four episodes, it seems like Peter being on the run with Rose and Catherine trying to find him is separate from Noor having to dig up dirt on the ambassador. The Peter story line is less interesting than Noor's story line. By Episode 5, the two story lines basically merge. There's some suggestion that the terrorists that Peter is hunting might be the Iranians on which Noor is trying to spy. Once the story lines merge, things really become better. The incredible supporting cast, which includes the various villains are very well developed and they don't come across as ridiculous Bond villain types. The only one that comes close to Bond villain status is Markus Dargen, played by Michael Malarkey (The Oath and The Vampire Diaries). He's the obvious bad guy, whereas others might have shades of grey.
Marwan Kenzari (The Old Guard and Aladdin) rounds out the cast as Sami Saidi, a Night Action member who used to be a Delta Force officer. When it comes to extracting Noor's family from Iran, Sami is the one who's hired. He's introduced in Episode 5, which is probably my favorite episode of this season. However, the dominoes that fall after that episode kick off a very strong back-half of the season.
That back half tries to tip things toward the direction of making Peter a more intriguing character. Yet, whatever promise for that is more of a promise for next season. The series tees up some potentially cool stuff for Season 3 and because of which, this series is one to keep an eye on.
Rated TV-MA-LSV.
Running Time: 1 hr. / 10 eps.
Available on Netflix.