Dig

At first, due to all of the hype and advertising, I thought that this would be 'just another' cheaply-made dumbbell TV show for small-minded people and the elderly who are prayed upon by churches and telemarketers...BUT, I WAS SO WRONG!

This is a fantastic EPIC TV SHOW with great locations; great actors; great characters; great writers; great, great, great everything! I love it!

The only thing I dislike about "Dig" is having to wait a week to see what happens next!?!?

It's definitely a "cliffhanger," just as Jason Isaacs says in the "Making of DIG."

I've always taken a great interest in foreign cultures, religions, and, histories, but, I think that this show will appeal to anyone who has an open mind and really wants to experience something with foreign cultures, religions, and, histories...and, with a lot of action, intrigue, and, excitement.

I love it! :) I just changed my rating to '9!' (May 3, 2015):)

*Gideon Raff, the creator of this series, is also the creator of "Tyrant." Check that out! (Update - Sept. 3, 2015).

Overall, I like Dig. After all, who doesn't like conspiracy theories that have a veneer of fact? It is a fact that there is a Temple Society that is actively searching for the ashes of the Red Heifer and training students in ancient Temple ritual to resume sacrifices when the Third Temple is rebuild. Another fact is that there are evangelical Christians who support the Jewish Temple Society and also look for the Temple to be rebuilt. Where Dig deviates from these facts is that these people are quite peaceful and content to wait for the Messiah to come (return) rather than take an active art in destroying the current occupants of the Temple Mount. It's also a fact that archaeological digging around the Temple Mount has religious and political hazards.

And that's the basic problem with Dig's broad popularity. It asks us to extend our intellect beyond the usual car chase/shoot-em-ups/bedroom scenes that are the standard made-for-TV miniseries. You need to have some knowledge of Judaism and evangelical Christianity to navigate the premises in Dig. From many of the comments on IMDb, it's obvious that many would rather watch the standard TV fare than extend their intellect. I don't object to being asked to think a little bit but why not go all the way and make a completely intellectually satisfying show.

Dig has just too many plot holes to give it a ten rating. Let's consider Agent Connelly, Jason Isaacs' character. Does the FBI send agents into foreign countries? I thought that was the CIA's job. Even if the FBI is into operations in Israel, would they use an agent who apparently doesn't know a single word of Hebrew? I realize that English is the most common second language in Israel but you can get on an Israeli's good side with a few well chosen words in Hebrew.

Dig ignores the fact that the Essenes really are extinct. They appear in the history of Josephus and some other contemporary historians but they seem to have disappeared during the First Jewish Revolt of 70 AD. It seems that that Essenes were a dead end of Judaism. Current scholarly opinion is that the Essenes had no connection to the Dead Sea Scrolls or to Qumran for that matter. Whether or not the Essenes existed in Qumran in the First Century or now, I think that the many people involved in excavating the Dead Sea Scrolls might have noticed all those dudes in white robes dancing around fires in the area.

Another hoot that Dig offers up is the scene with Anne Heche walking around the Negev in high heels and a cocktail dress. This is just after a miraculous escape from her kidnappers by strangling Noa Tishby, shooting the driver and surviving a SUV crash without wearing a seat belt. Folks, do not stroll the Negev without full hiking gear and lots of water.

Despite the aforementioned sensitivity of digging around the Temple Mount, apparently one can enter the dig through a door on a busy locked by a key that is not so cunningly hidden behind a rock in the wall. Israeli security can't be that lax.

In a way, Dig makes me disappointed in Gideon Raff, one of the creators. I loved Hatufim (on which Homeland was based) mini-series because it was so plausible. The characters in Hatufim, as in Homeland, have an ambiguity that is lacking in most miniseries. However, Hatufim was entirely plausible with the premise that the Israel security agencies employ double and triple agents. Dig's evil and good characters stay pretty much as they are throughout the series. Also, Dig lacks the implied homoerotica of Hatufim, although Ori Pfeffer's character is openly gay.

There are some high points in Dig that help overcome its defects. Angela Bettis, Regina Taylor and Noa Tishby play three of the most evil women to ever grace the small or large screen. Jerusalem is lovingly photographed, warts and all. Overall, I would still recommend Dig as something better than average.

While many film and television viewers like escapist comedies and non-strop action thrillers, I have a weakness for suspense with intricate plots. Sure, I don't mind the occasional chase, but I like them paired with puzzle pieces which are gradually woven together. Only by the end do we see not only how the pieces fit together but the entire picture. Hopefully, in the best films in this genre, each piece of the puzzle is offered but the characters along with the audience can't make the connections initially. They need more puzzle pieces for the mosaic to take shape. Part of the fun is for the audience to discover the pieces and ultimately the entire puzzle as the characters do so.

In this first installment of "Dig", USA network's new suspense-espionage thriller series, we have puzzle pieces but we don't have the full picture yet. The main action takes place in Jerusalem with a few inter-spliced scenes in a compound in New Mexico. The pieces so far: an antiquities dealer arrested for murder, a member of the police who has retrieved some kind of ancient artifact, possibly used with the garb of a high priest from ancient times, the murder of a young woman who is an intern in an archaeological dig near the temple mount in Jerusalem.

Peter Connelly (Jason Isaacs) is an FBI agent stationed in Jerusalem. It's not exactly clear why he's there, but he's part of criminal investigations in the city regarded as one of the holiest places on Earth by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. He befriends a young woman at an evening vigil who takes him into an underground archaeological excavation. She tells him she's an intern at this excavation being overseen by an esteemed archaeologist-historian professor. She tells Connelly the site may hold the secrets of the Ark of the Covenant, the large ornate chest which, according to Jewish legend, held the original stone tablets of the 10 commandments which God bequeathed to Moses who in turn bestowed upon the Israelites. The Ark also supposedly contained artifacts associated with the Jewish people, such as Aaron's rod which, like Moses' rod, wielded magical powers. When the Babylonians conquered the Israelites by ransacking Jerusalem and destroying their temple in the 6th century BCE, the Ark disappeared. (Think of the 1980's hit "Raiders of the Lost Ark".) The following day after his trip to the excavation, Connelly enters his investigative offices and learns a woman has been murdered. When he sees the reports and pictures, he realizes it's the woman he met who gave him a tour of the excavation site. This is the first puzzle piece.

Simultaneously, a fellow Israeli investigator has arrested an antiquities dealer. He confiscated some kind of ancient artifact which has the shape of an abacus with strangely ornate stars. Apparently, they were used on the front of the garb of an ancient high priest, probably for some kind of ritual. This is puzzle pieces number two and three.

The last is the most enigmatic of them all. At a compound in New Mexico, a young boy of 11 or 12 is being held there without other children. We don't understand who these adults are, except they are caring for and in some ways imprisoning this boy. We are told that the boy thought he was waiting for his parents, but now his self-appointed guardians have told him his parents are dead and they are in his charge. And we learn that the head of this compound is called "Pastor". Is this some kind of radical religious cult? This is puzzle piece number four.

While I found the first few minutes dragged slightly, once Connelly meets the young woman, the story starts to pick up. Could be a compelling series. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait every week to get the next installment. Almost wish I could simply buy the whole first season on DVD instead of waiting many weeks to see all the installments. I hope the grand denouement lives up to this very good beginning.

While investigating a young woman's death, FBI Agent Peter Connelly (Jason Isaacs) based in Jerusalem uncovers a secret society. His boss and former lover Lynn Monahan (Anne Heche) is unconvinced. Debbie Morgan (Lauren Ambrose) is a recovering addict staying with a group in an isolated religious compound out in the American desert. She discovers a boy named Josh who is held in isolation. She tries to break him out but it's not what she thinks it is. A red heifer without blemish is born in Norway and a young religious Jew is tasked to accompanying it to the Holy lands. The three separate stories converge around a plan thousands of years in the making.

Tim Kring keeps coming up with convoluted conspiracy shows with religious overtones. I like them but it doesn't mean I'm a sucker for anything. There are some silliness going on in this show. All three stories are interest in their own way but also suffers from deficiencies. The cow is silly but I actually like the religious kid. I really like Lauren Ambrose but her story is unreal. As for the main story, it gets too complicated and too compressed. I started to lose interest in that section after a few episodes and the show ended weakly. This is an ambitious TV show that doesn't deliver all that it promises.

I love crazy twists and turns. Things that make me go, "Whaaaaa...??" and Dig has a lot of that.

There's no swearing (it's on USA network for crying out loud) and the camera work has never bothered me. Bear in mind, I'm a non-religious, non-Hollywood type...so what do I know?

But -- if you want to get sucked in and taken for a weird ride, hop on.

It did help that I fell in love with Detective Golan Cohen, Peter's partner.

Regina Taylor is deliciously evil and Anne Heche (I know, right!?) is a fun find in this show. I was happy to see Lauren Ambrose in a great role... always love her.