American Odyssey

Critics have attacked this, but I found it just as credible as Homeland. We all know how deeply US corporations have been involved in war in Iraq, providing private security, and helping generate the misery that we see in the Middle East today. The bullying of Greece over its debt was also a nice realistic touch. OK, it is just a fictional story, but it is as credible as Homeland, which in later series became rather tedious and dragged out. It was also just as far fetched. The idea that the US would take any form of action against their ally Pakistan was utterly incredible. They allow this terrorist sponsoring state to have nuclear weapons without batting an eyelid, while threatening Iran. They need states such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as allies, even if they are the most extreme Islamic states in the world. As entertainment, I felt it kept the pace up well right until the last episode. Pity it has been dropped now, but I guess follow up series often tend to get weaker and weaker (except Breaking Bad, of course!).

Ignore the negativity here at IMDb about this show. This is an interesting but complex mini-series that examines what happens when a monster corporation with good connections gets into political intrigue for the sake of profit, and tries to cover it up. We see the plot unfolding from three pairs of eyes: a young political activist (with a blue-blood background); a female soldier from an elite team who take down a wanted terrorist; and a lawyer who has signed on as an employee to defend a company that is in 'over their heads'. This show lacks the explicit language or sensual activity of series of this genre produced in Europe, although BBC (and, lately, the Danish) have certainly produced a bumper crop of hard-hitting (but adult-rated), exposé-type of shows, broadcast over 9-15 weeks. Nice to see an American show take up the challenge to produce a quality non-cheesy, but (PG-13) offering. My only complaint is that the remaining (6?) episodes of Season-1 are not yet available at Netflix - so, we will all have to wait for a final resolution. M Gull (May-2015)

I never saw American Odyssey on NBC, but I just finished watching it on Netflx. It's a pity NBC has cancelled it. I hope it is offered on a cable channel for a season 2. The characters are great, Actors are top notch. I want to see more!

Although there are parts of it that feel rushed and incomplete or Network blandness, it manages to be a mostly tight thriller that is very reality based and sticks to it's controversial story with very little compromise.

Seeing it on Netflix without commercial interruption is probably far better then seeing it on NBC.

It's cancellation by NBC, like the cancellation of Hannibal, is a travesty and it should be a warning to other film makers to watch out for NBC's top brasses fear of controversy and lack of caring about the viewer.

1st episode was quite good. I already care about what will happen to several of the characters and the suspense held my attention. Definitely worth a watch.

I love the themes of corporate and government immorality vs true heroism.

Looking forward to the next episode. It does remind me of Homeland a little bit, but faster-paced. Very few programs rise to the level of that quality.

Why IMDb.com forces a reviewer to write ten lines of Text is a mystery - that's a little much! What else can I say _ try it!

The biggest problem of this show is that most of the characters are too trustworthy to the point of stupidity or just too plain stupid. In particular the activists who one could really nickname dumber&dumber, but also the corporate lawyer. Then again most people would probably behave the same.

Said that I really liked all the part in Africa involving Odelle, the main character, the diversity of characters albeit some unbelievable, like the publicly transgender uncle, their relationships and the fact that they spoke a mixture of English, French and Arabic. I quite liked also the way it ends, though that was meant to be only a mid-season finale and not a series finale.