The Grid

This is a pretty good series, and as a South Asian American (with Muslim heritage) I was intrigued by it. The best acting is done by the Brits and the Raza Michaels character.

And to the viewer who said it shows only Muslim terrorists- that is not true. Akil (the young scared Brit) does not practice Islam- his brother Hamid does. Kaz (the American blonde) turns to Islam because he has a bad relationship with his dad. These (youngish) guys have seen the "bad" side of life (jail/racism/poverty, or whatnot). So they look for a solution. Maybe they get into religion. Maybe violence. Or both. There are no easy solutions and all people are not black/white in their ways- and this show opens up about that.

This was a powerful series. Well-acted, Well-written. I disagree with people who say Julianna Margulies was out of her element, her character Merrin was just the type of woman you want in the government tough, smart, and strong-willed. Dylan McDermot was good as the Special Agent in-charge of New York's Joint terrorism taskforce. My favorite character was Jemma Redgrave's Emily Tuthill. Jemma was an actress I had never seen before she gave a very powerful performance especially toward the end in her scenes with the actor who played Reza, the CIA analyst turned field agent. Anyone that feels that Emily and Reza's scenes were out of place in a serious drama, I say well love, intimacy, and the beginnings of a strong relationship can be born under stranger circumstances.

In terms of Screen writing the strongest character relationship were the scenes between Maren and under mentor Former Secretary of State Jay Aldrich played by Robert Forester. When Aldrich describes Maren as being cool under pressure and well suited for chaos, the audience gets the feeling that Maren was both highly trained and well suited for her position but, written as well as it was, it also communicates that Maren's skills are both battle worn and still highly effective.

The DVD is reasonably priced at 14.00 dollars or so on two discs, with great extras about film and actor's discussing the mindset needed to work in Counterterrorism, buy this powerful miniseries. I would call this a must for anyone interested in Counterterrorism work for the government. I realize that television dramas like "The Agency" and "The Grid" are fictional and not really how working in Counterterrorism is, but "The Grid" made the journey both mildly realistic and entertaining.

At least it gets one interested in learning about the subject matter from non-fiction sources. To begin I suggest reading "Against All Enemies" by former NSC Manager Richard A. Clarke.

Just before THE GRID was broadcast I came to this page and found out that THE GRID was a BBC / American co-production and had first been screened on US television . This utterly surprised me since all the trailers seemed to make a big thing about the British cast ( Most notably Bernard Hill who not only appeared in every trailer for this but every single trailer for the Olympic games too ) but upon watching the first episode it becomes very obvious the amount of American involvement in this drama . This might not have been a bad thing since American television has brought us some great dramas in the last few years ( Am I the only Brit who loved OZ ? ) but THE GRID isn't one of them

Despite having only one director and two credited writers THE GRID feels it was produced by a commitee numbering several hundred people and this shows through on screen

Will it appeal to Tom Clancy junkies ? - Check

Are there bedhopping scenes to appeal to SEX AND THE CITY fans ? - Check

Are there both good and bad Muslim characters to show that not all Muslims are terrorists . We don't want allegations of racism with this show - Check

This is a drama /thriller that is trying to appeal to the entire TV audience on both sides of the Atlantic and this is where the mini series fails . Maren Jackson might be a hot American babe while Emily Tuthill will appeal to those viewers who like frosty English ice maidens but are their sex lives that important to the plot ? ( A plot which I thought was overstretched ) Mind you when you've got dialogue like

" Come to spoil the tea party ? "

" I've no intention of spoiling your tea party . I drink my tea in Long Island - Ice cold "

I guess you might expect a bit of sex since it sounds like it came out of a blue movie

So THE GRID fails down to the fact there seems to be too many cooks pouring some iced tea

I'll start by saying that I definitely enjoyed the first episode. The two hours pretty much flew by. I highly recommend this to anyone.

However, there are a few glaring flaws:

With two exceptions, virtually all the main characters are young and beautiful. , they are all supposed to be highly seasoned veterans in extremely high

positions within their respective agencies, Yeah, right.

At least most of them are terrific actors. The one GLARING exception is Julianna Margulies. She was fine in her TV role as a nurse, and I liked her a lot in "Elysian fields." However, she is PAINFULLY miscast in this series. She's so non-believable (not to mention wooden) that everytime she was on-screen I got jolted out of the action with a blaring

reminder that I was watching a tv series. Awful. Maybe she's battling a drug addiction or alcohol, who knows....

OK, but other than the above, the premier episode was terrific. Excellent

cinematography, excellent screenplay, editing, etc. Also, as others have said, the "bad guys" aren't presented as one-dimensional. Rather, both sides of the conflict are presented with equal respect, and that's really something. There's a lot in this series to make you think.

HIGHLY recommended.

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.