Treadstone

Wow. I don't see how anyone can rate this mess above a four. The dialogue is idiotic. And the plotting is absurd. One of the professional reviewers, I believe it was Ebert, called this a "mush' and I agree.

The series was extremely good in my opinion not quite 10/10 top tier but one of the better action series around if a little predictable at tunes but just enough other twists to keep you guessing. Unfortunately however the series hasn't been renewed and the story did not conclude at all the most annoying thing when you get invested into a show! If you don't like that happening I'd give it a miss and save yourself the pain and annoyance.

So I waited till the third episode before I made a solid conclussion. My conclussion, too much isn't the answer, characters, places, flashbacks, cramming in as much as possible has the opposite of the desired effect. In episode three the viewer is shown the happenings in four separate places in the space of a minute and a half, why, it's a TV series, they have plenty of time. It tries to be gritty but sleek at the same time, some of the dialogue is crafted, some quite laughable, "How did you become so strong?". It all just seems to be rushing the storyline and forgetting the characters, you end up not giving a toss about them. As for the acting well a few standout but Tracy Ifeachor is woefully bad. If you like the Bourne series of films you won't like this, yes it will fill some time but you won't go out of your way for it.

6 episodes in and the story is gradually unfolding. The character development is okay, giving a background to each cicada, with spicy action scenes. Although the show does jump between characters and time periods, it's not as impossible to follow as some reviews suggest. Feels like each episode should have been at least an hour long though. Can't wait to see how it all ends

The story follows several different dormant sleeper agents around the world as they get reactivated, while also depicting the fallout from project Treadstone in the present day. It also depicts the past, introducing how it all began. It is pretty well done, but it does have flaws.

The quality of each story varies, but it is great to see people in non-English speaking countries be given scope not to use English, irrespective of the quality of speech/pronunciation. I particularly like the events set in the past, and the story set in North Korea (though I'd query the quality of show's depiction of NK). Most of the storylines are enjoyable to watch.

The flaw: The storyline which should bring these disparate stories together or at least provide connection is pretty poorly done. I like the actors individually (Michelle Forbes, Omar Metwally and Tracy Ifeachor) but their storyline and the characters they depict destroy any goodwill/ suspension of disbelief the audience has. (They may as well be on a different TV show).

Particularly Tracy Ifeachor, it may not be fair, but she looks too young to be a seasoned journalist; her role as a freelance journalist uber-driver and the way she's wrangled into the plot is terrible. It's a pity because there could have easily been a more credible version of the present day CIA operation involving a journalist, in keeping with all the other storylines.

I'm giving it an 8 because it is ambitious, and only one of the storylines actively bothers me. But I don't think it will see a 2nd season, and I understand why.

Having said that, reviewers that simply state 'subtitles suck' should stick to low-brow cartoons. Not everything needs immediate explanation, many seem either too stupid or too impatient to accept that. Formulaic and 'exposition heavy' American telly has definitely addled the minds.