Threat Matrix - Alarmstufe Rot

Here's the deal: If you don't have any expectations it's worth watching.

Quote from the intro-sequence: "Every morning the President receives a report that updates the most active terrorist threats against the United States. This report is called "The Threat Matrix". The department of Homeland Security handpicked teams of agents from the CIA, FBI and the NSA, to analyze and respond to the Threat Matrix report, now their job is to keep us safe." We follow Special Agent John Kilmer (James Denton) and his team who makes a living out of stopping terrorist in reaching their objectives.

And that is mostly what this show is about. Now I know 24 comes to your mind when you see this but this is not 24 and don't think about 24 when you watch it. You'll be disappointed. This is not a bad show, but it's not a masterpiece. It is, however, entertaining and worth watching if you don't take it all too seriously and think too much about it. The cast is good and the stories are OK. The effects could have been done better, but you buy it. Over all it's well made.

I wasn't expecting much going into ABC's Threat Matrix. My initial reaction to the show was further diminished by an opening sequence depicting a pair of US servicemen in a Minuteman Silo playing video games and the theft of an American nuclear warhead by a group of apparent terrorists made up of white Americans. I thought to myself, this is going to be like most of 24- they don't want to offend Islamists and liberals so they're going to make a show about the War on Terrorism with white guys as the villains. That's been the path taken by virtually every major television drama when it comes to terrorism. The West Wing responded to 9-11 by producing an hour-long sermon on tolerance. When Aaron Sorkin finally got around to writing a terrorist act into the show, he had it committed by white militiamen. Even shows like JAG and The Agency have addressed the war in only a half-hearted fashion- as a setting, not as a basis. There seems to be a reluctance to write about heroism in the war against the Islamists. As I've said, 24 made their villains turn out to be a bunch of Evil Rich White MenT, plotting to start a war for the sake of oil profits. For the first few minutes I wasn't expecting much better from this show.

A few minutes in, however, it is revealed that the theft of the bomb was not the work of terrorists; it was the work of special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, working to keep the Federal Government on its toes.

`And you two what, go around the country stealing warheads?' asks an incredulous General,

`When the President asks us to,' responds Special Agent James Kilmer (played by James Denton). That's when it hits me; this is going to be the first 21st century show, a show updated to the new sensibilities of the American people regarding foreign affairs and the current war. This isn't going to be a show which creates a fictional liberal-fantasy President (a la 24's 'President Palmer' or The West Wing's 'President Bartlett'), this is the fusion of that most venerable television genre, the police procedural, with the sensibilities of the many patriotic films made during the Second World War lauding the heroism of America's fighting men.

On reflection I ought to have known it sooner. The show opens with a little text and narration bit which, if it is retained, is destined to become a classic, it explains the meaning of the phrase, `threat matrix' (it's the report that the President receives every morning about terrorist threats) and explains how the job of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the CIA have the job of, `keep(ing) us safe.' New sensibilities for a new era.

The plot of the pilot episode revolves around a terrorist plot, which I will not describe to avoid spoiling several excellent plot twists but, needless to say, it's fun and entertaining. More than that, the show is filmed in a wonderful CSI-like style. It's a show about investigating terrorism which is as detailed, as thorough, as the newest crime shows.

But the best thing about the show is its general sensibilities and moral compass. A few years ago, the movie The Siege, depicting a terrorist campaign against New York City, was widely attacked by Muslim advocates for being 'racist' because of its depiction of Muslims as 'terrorists'- a charge that was backed up by many critics. This despite the fact that the movie went to wild lengths to differentiate between 'loyal' Muslims and terrorists, even suggesting that it was America's own fault for provoking terrorism (by holding a terrorist leader prisoner and abandoning the Kurds in Northern Iraq). The movie ends with a US Army General (who is the villain of the piece) being arrested for murder after having a terrorist killed. Even with all of this, film critic Roger Ebert claimed that, `the prejudicial attitudes embodied in the film are insidious, like the anti-Semitism that infected fiction and journalism in the 1930s.'

The same sort of attitude has infected virtually every other piece featuring Muslim terrorists, no one wants to offend those who slaughtered 3000 Americans. In last years The Sum of All Fears the producers went to the insane step of changing the villains from Islamic fanatics into generic European Neo-Nazis. There's none of that in here. At one point in the episode the agents end up taking a group of teenaged terrorists prisoner, classifying them as enemy combatants. One of the agents objects saying, `they're kids,' to which the other agent responds, `They're terrorists, sent by terrorists.' End of discussion in this new day and age. In another scene an agent tells a person with information of terrorism that either he will divulge his information, or she will leave him to be executed by Indonesia. A new show for a new age.

The cast is mostly made up of unknowns (with the exception of Melora Walters, from Magnolia and Boogie Nights). But, like other shows of this type, other things matter more than cast here. This is a brave show. I don't know if it'll survive in this form to air but, if it does, it will prove to be a hit- regardless of how many people denounce hit. Those associated with this production are brave- this defies the conventions of Hollywood by showing things as they are: American security forces as heroes, Muslim terrorists as villains. The way things ought to be.

I think that before anyone starts rubbishing this series as being over the top, nationalistic rubbish they might want to think about one thing. What if what we see in these episodes, or similar is actually happening each day in the USA? I mean if it is, and the US Gov certainly ain't going to be announcing it on TV if it is, then I think it paints a whole new picture on this series! Whilst some of the episodes may be a little near the edge, I think many of them show us a world that we don't want to face. A world were individuals rights are infringed, liberties taken away at a whim, and people falsely accused of things they never did. All this because a few guys flew some planes into a building ( a fact that is actually mentioned in one Ep.) I think this is a great idea and I only hope it can take off again some day.

I admit I haven't managed to sit through the pilot in its entirety. But my taste and decency wouldn't allow me to make that mistake. Every cliché in the book is trotted out for this sorry excuse of a drama. Playing "call to prayer" sounding music whilst showing clips of suspected terrorists. Hardly anyone in this so-called "elite squad" is anything other than nice middle class and white. From what I saw, it even made Independence Day look like it possessed a modicum of savvy.

My boyfriend at least seemed to enjoy watching it, so he could mock it in the extreme.

What worries me more is that there are people out there, believing the extremely prejudiced ideas spouted by such ridiculous programming. Oh well, there's no accounting for taste. Or intelligence for that matter.

This show is just what we needed. The cast is great although they are mostly unknowns and the action scenes are awesome. The stories told are about what we are facing in the world today. Enough of these reality shows, they are getting old. This show deserves a chance and I hope ABC will give it one. This is the last season of Friends which should help it out in the ratings next season should it be renewed and kept in that time slot.