The Grid

"The Grid" (we never really know to what the title refers) is a 6x45 min miniseries action/drama about international terrorism. The bad guys are a rogue terror cell operating out of Yemen, deploying operatives to the UK and the US where they are to attack with sarin nerve gas. The good guys are a joint task force of Brits and US Federal agents who are out to stop the bad guys. The film leapfrogs incessantly from Yemen to London to Washington to Saudi Arabia to Chicago, etc. globe trotting in a surprisingly well orchestrated conglomeration of good vs evil Muslims, interagency wrangling, boyish suicide bombers, covert ops, murder, love, and much more given this US/UK co-op's budgetary constraints. On the upside, "The Grid" gets busy and stays busy sufficient to engross and make some of the obvious histrionics easily overlooked as it provides an acceptable overview of the amorphous nature of terrorist cells and the international agency cooperation required to effectively cope with this 21 century threat. On the downside the film is difficult to follow at times, somewhat disjointed in an effort to be all things to all people, pushes the believability envelope occasionally, and is generally too pat to be real. Overall, "The Grid" is an acceptable miniseries worth a look for those who can commit to a 4.5 hour small screen watch. Those who enjoy this miniseries should also check out "Traffic (2004)". (B-)

What a pity to write in all that long distance control of on-the-spot special forces operations via voice and monitor. Can you imagine hard-arsed Delta and SAS troopers taking direct orders from pushy females watching monitors from several thousand miles away? Especially females that keep on falling in love with their operatives all over the place? And Julie Margulies was straight out of a Hollywood daytime soap - the bitch-maneater, on top of the job, ruthless, uncompromising... Hair never out of place, cute hats, purposeful big-shoulders walk. Puhlease! And why superimpose dozens of subtitles without giving viewers time enough to actually read them. There's a rule about this and it's based on basic intelligence: subtitles are there to be read - if you don't want to give enough time to read them, then simply refrain from using them at all. Who was the brain behind this? Despite all, The Grid was very well made and deserved something a whole lot better in the acting and directorial department. Shame.

I was at first very skeptical towards "The Grid," a show that offers an insider's view on the United States War on Terror, as this show seemed certain to provoke more outrage and mistrust amongst Americans. The previews certainly made it look that way too. Then last night (July 19, 2004) came and I got a chance to view the show in its entirety, and I must say that it makes for thoughtful entertainment.

Whether you agree with President George W. Bush's politics or not (for the record, I don't support him), I think "The Grid" will do a good job of showing us that the people at the top may always lie to us on a daily basis, but they are trying to stop terrorism, which unfortunately for us, is never going away (a little morbid, you and I may think, but true).

The story for "The Grid," the title referring to the organizations who are involved in fighting or masterminding terrorism, begins in London, where three men attempting a terrorist attack on a nearby hotel fail miserably, when their weapon of choice (Sarin bombs encased in coffee pots) accidentally goes off, and kills everyone that is exposed to it (body count: 19). News of this spreads quickly and eventually it becomes evident to everyone on both sides of the Atlantic that a huge plot is underway by members of a lunatic fringe associated with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist camp.

We are later introduced to members of both sides of the War on Terror, including the aforementioned people at the top, the newly formed extremist camp (including some of its obviously conflicted members), and the struggle between the powers-that-be over information and within the terrorist camp.

"The Grid" was created by Tracey Alexander (who is also the show's executive producer), and has said that it is her way of dealing with the events of 9/11, the terrorists and the powers-that-be in Washington, D.C. and Britain who can't seem to get it together to protect their people.

This show doesn't offer us a one-sided view of the so-called "evildoers" and their associates, some of whom as we're shown, are forced into the fringe because they have no other choice. Some of the men shown, are respectable individuals; one man is a physician, who joins because the hospital where he works cannot afford medicine to treat its patients. We are also shown a devoted Muslim man working for the C.I.A., who faces much mistrust from his fellow workers, especially his own boss.

"The Grid" could also teach us some things about what really goes on. For one, something that I learned from a friend of mine who is from Iran, that the word "jihad" does not mean "holy war," as some of the extremists and American news media have put it; the word in fact, means to strive for a better way of life.

Much of what goes on in "The Grid" will not come as news to anyone who pays close attention to politics. We know that intelligence failures played heavily into the events of 9/11, we know that the powers-that-be in Washington and Great Britain were/are still in the middle of a power struggle, we know at least partially, some of the motivations for the extremists' desires to kill Americans (rid the Middle East of Western culture and influence) and that some of the members of the lunatic fringe are human beings, not soulless monsters as the Administration sometimes makes them out to be.

You may not agree with the politics, you may not agree with the message, but "The Grid" is certainly a show that I think most Americans should see, and make up their own minds about the direction that our country is going in the War on Terror.

the grid is fabulous -- beautifully written: Raza to Emily "Sex like love is an act of devotion," beautifully acted -- wonderful television. Go TNT! By the way, I believe that Raza Michael's name is Piter Marek. The casting is diverse as are the locations. The Grid could have very easily been a theatrical movie, albeit, it would have had to be shorten. But that is why television is great, especially when it is allowed to be great. TNT but together an intelligent piece of entertainment. The characters are very well drawn out. We are already seeing the many different shades of people that live in this vast world of ours. The Grid lets us see that not everyone of a particular culture or ethnicity is bad. And please Raza Michaels is Piter Marek.

I have just seen the first episode of the series, and it was compelling and well made.

It reminded me of watching 24, without the high speed tension, and localized setting. This is a global 24 that isn't really hour by hour. But it works well, very well. In fact as you're watching you can sit there and see it working very well. It doesn't just involve the Americans doing everything, which is a nice change. I guess I should organize this a bit better and go into detail about a few of the things I like.

First, I think recent events of the 9/11 commission and their ideas of making a centralized system, as seen in the show. It shows how the CIA and other agencies seem to dislike each other and in fact seems that it is quite like real life. These with recent events make it feel as if you could be watching the news of what could really be happening.

Second, it's nice to be in London, seeing MI5 and MI6, doing their own work, and the relationship between those to agencies, as well as US intelligence.

Third, the acting is quite good for a made for TV movie, and the development of each was well done. It is quite bloody, and has a nice amount of explosions. The camera work is nice and works well.

Fourth, and lastly, the story itself seems to be very well crafted. It fits in so well to today's society that it is quite capable of being a news broadcast rather then fiction.

In the end it is an all around well crafted TV "limited" series, and I will be back next Monday to watch it again! 9/10