Rubicon

When I saw this series advertised in the TV guide I thought I'd give it a go even though I hadn't seen any trailers on TV and it was being shown on BBC4; a channel usually showing 'cultural' programmes and the occasional subtitled European series... certainly not where one would expect to find a US spy drama. I'm glad I did watch it as it was gripping through out even though it had little of the action typical of the genre; in fact much of the drama took place in an ordinary looking room where the characters discussed various pieces of intelligence they had received. The series follows Will Travers, an analyst at an intelligence agency in New York, who finds himself promoted to head of his department when his friend and mentor is killed in a railway 'accident'. He and his small team follow a lead that starts in the Middle East but leads to an imminent terrorist attack in the United States; if this isn't enough for him he is also investigating a local conspiracy which will put him personally in real danger.

I've tried to keep plot description to an absolute minimum as this is the sort of series best watched with no prior knowledge of what is going on; that way the story will slowly draw you in and as each episode draws to a close you will be left wanting to know what happens next. Of course a good series needs more than a good plot; it needs a great set of characters and it has them here; Will Travers, played by James Badge Dale, might not be an action hero in the Jack Bauer mould but he is believable and doesn't seem invulnerable. The rest of his team are equally ordinary; they are after all analysts, it is their job to identify threats, not to eliminate them. The only character that has any real sense of danger about him is Will's superior Kale Ingram, excellently played by Arliss Howard, you get the sense that he is the type of person who knows how to make people disappear. The only disappointment I had with this series was learning that it had been cancelled after only one series... without a proper resolution.

I'm evaluating the whole series here, not just the first episode.

It's a darn good show - really darn good. Well worth watching in 2018, and also worth rewatching, which I plan to do in a few months once the show isn't so fresh in my mind anymore.

There have been many TV shows about spies and subterfuge (Homeland, The Americans) and terrorism (The Looming Tower, The Unit, 24, etc.). But this show filters America's "war on terror" through an intel analysis firm, where brilliant and bookish individuals sift through raw intel to give recommendations for America's NatSec apparatus. And that's only part of the show; the other part involves a creepy, wide-ranging conspiracy that's ever bit as exciting and scarily omniscient as the ones you'd find in those classic 70s conspiracy flicks like "The Parallax View" and "All the President's Men."

The writing is thoughtful and the dialogue is rich; there's so much of substance here, and the show doesn't need big explosions or shootouts or anything like that to sustain an intricate, fascinating plot and rewarding character arcs. Everyone is interesting, from James Badge Dale as the paranoid, hyper-focused analyst Will Travers to Miranda Richardson as widow Katherine Rhumor, who is trying to figure out why her rich husband suddenly took his own life.

Special commendation, though, has got to go to Arliss Howard as Will's supervisor Kale Ingram: the coolest, most fascinating, chilly and badass middle-aged gay character I think I've ever seen on an American TV show (refreshingly, Ingram's homosexuality is simply presented as is, with no frills or B.S., something shows in 2018 still struggle to do). And Michael Cristofer as the cigarette-smoking weirdo and head of API Truxton Spangler is another winner: every scene he's in positively crackles, and his true motivations will keep you guessing.

From the cinematography (you'll think you're watching a Hollywood movie half the time, it's so good) to the writing to the performances, this is a show to treasure and savor. Budding screenwriters simply must study this show's scripts, and the show overall is is one of the most wickedly smart things I've ever seen on American TV. Shame there's only the one season; it could've done a lot better if it came out today on a streaming platform.

Do yourself a favor and watch Rubicon, if only to see just how good TV can be.

I can see why many people would find this show hard to get into. The trailer for the show and the first episode appeared as though a deep, fast moving intelligence arena or encryption conspiracy was being presented. After the second and third episodes the energy appears gone and you're left wondering what the point is.

However, given the nature of the subject matter the above is probably a good thing. The patient are rewarded by the details of the stories taking shape slowly and connecting. The brilliant performances - and they are brilliant, because every single actor/ess is believable as a real character, probably so much so that the apparent dullness of daily life in the show put a lot of viewers off - quickly subdue the watcher into thinking that many characters are bit players. But given time, each one has more depth and cracks than are at first apparent. I believe this will turn into something very different - where every character is important and has a role to play. In a slow burning show like this, time is what is needed.

Having said that, I am only one or two episodes into being caught by the show. And it is still just a show. If the writers behind it cannot climax the tendrils of interests properly, it will fall heavily on its face. I would like to see this run, however, as it has the potential to not simply hit the tension-and-reset button between seasons, but be an engaging and truly thought provoking medium for many situations we find ourselves in.

One of the best TV series I have seen. It is a mystery to me why AMC, after presenting breakthrough series after series, killed this smart one off after one season. It has much in common and perhaps the writers took inspiration from (and referenced) Three Days of the Condor, a great '70s spy movie. I guess AMC (and most network TV channels) think that a show has to start out with death, high action, or someone yelling "Stat!". This is a quiet, thoughtful show, which fits the characterizations and near docudrama script perfectly. I loved it and I miss not seeing more, after watching the one and only season. The main thing here is character development, in and out of the office, although the bulk of the story is all about the spying. It did start to take a slower turn in the middle episodes, perhaps a change in some key production area, and it broke the flow a bit. Even so, that is the very worst I can say about it, and that only lasted 2-3 episodes and I was so invested by then it didn't matter. Even though just one season, there are 13 45min episodes that are very worth watching and the story arc is as complete as it can be while leaving room for more in case it was renewed, so it is worth watching as a 13 episode mini-series.

After watching the 12th episode of this show, I found myself thinking just how good it is.

I have to admit that it started slowly, but what seem to have been random actions or scenes have been woven into a deeply intriguing plot.

I am a big fan of Breaking Bad and expected a lot from AMC on this one. I am not disappointed. This is one of my favorite shows and my favorite new show.

The acting is very good and the scenes are very believable. The interior shots of their workplace are a great backdrop.

There are a lot of characters, but each has its place in the plot. Each character is subtle but over time distinguishable from each other.