The Veil

Elisabeth Moss is a spy specialized in undercover work to extract information from unsuspecting (or are they suspecting this time) bad guys. She is somewhat of a wild card, go with the flow, doing things her way to get things done.

This time there is a potential ISIS terror thing that might happen and she is on the case working with the French and Americans befriending and helping a woman suspected to be ISIS.

Intriguing plot, good acting, some humor, some action, plenty of tension.

The intelligence people are competent, cunning and dangerous, it all seems very realistic and not romanticized like usual.

I'll start by saying I think the majority of actors did the best with what they had, especially the guy who played the American CIA agent. His delivery was pretty good.

Elizabeth Moss was miscast though. The accent. Stupid almost manic grins and cheesy one liners and quips just felt cringe and awkward.

The story is just unbelievable and pointless. The 'terrorist plot' is brain dead and I struggle to believe they needed to get the 'Djinn' to devise it. It's not clever, complicated or intelligent.

The twist is not a twist thanks to the worst foreshadowing ever. The story just plays out by numbers.

The CIA and French intelligence being fooled not once but twice with a switch was ridiculous. Absolutely unbelievable. It really ruined the story... Although I don't think omitting those parts would have saved it either.

Also it dragged out for its 6 episodes. Could have been done in 4. The last episode is basically done at the halfway mark.

Direction was actually good. Locations and filming good. Acting mostly good (except for Moss) but man... The story is just rubbish. It's like it was generated by an AI.

Elizabeth Moss... She always seems to pull it off.

I liked the series enough to hope it wasn't just a mini-series and that it would continue with more seasons. It certainly has the potential to be captivating enough if the writers don't phone it in. The last line in the last episode left the door wide open for more...fingers crossed.

There were some great rivalry digs and if there is any reality to the competition between Intl agencies, it's easy to see how 9/11 happened. There were elements of human foibles tossed around throughout that added nicely to it, though I could have lived without the flashback stuff. I've always found flashbacks to be a lazy way of developing a character.

Anyhoo... it was a nice change of pace and I hope the writers/producers develop some more seasons...

I don't like to leave bad reviews. But good grief this was disappointing. It started out OK, spy thriller, hardened female specialized agent trying to outwit a terrorist. Ok, I'm in. But then it got ridiculous and unbelievable. These two women driving around in a car magically evading all the spy agencies in the world, and the agencies acting in completely unbelievable ways. The whole "bad event we are trying to stop" made zero sense. And the final episode was stupid beyond belief. I can't even begin...

I have been an Elizabeth Moss fan since Mad Men.

But I think I'm done. I can't take the over-acting and loooong closeup shots staring at the camera with her mouth hanging open a la the Handmaid's Tale. Please Hod make it stop.

I write this because it would have helped me. It's a well done mini series and at the 3rd episode I might have thought it was an 8, but it's one of those series that is all based on the ending and how everything comes together. I just didn't find the ending very satisfying, not worth going through the 5 episodes to get there. My rating is "fine", but I would have skipped it if I had it to do over again.

Compared to some other reviews, I liked Moss's accent.

I liked the initial premise.

I thought some of the later story lines fell apart.

I wasn't convinced of why she'd believe so much in this woman to risk it all.