Threat Matrix

I admit I haven't managed to sit through the pilot in its entirety. But my taste and decency wouldn't allow me to make that mistake. Every cliché in the book is trotted out for this sorry excuse of a drama. Playing "call to prayer" sounding music whilst showing clips of suspected terrorists. Hardly anyone in this so-called "elite squad" is anything other than nice middle class and white. From what I saw, it even made Independence Day look like it possessed a modicum of savvy.

My boyfriend at least seemed to enjoy watching it, so he could mock it in the extreme.

What worries me more is that there are people out there, believing the extremely prejudiced ideas spouted by such ridiculous programming. Oh well, there's no accounting for taste. Or intelligence for that matter.

In Germany we have this saying that goes 'it's better to do a good copy then to make a bad invention'. I guess this about sums it up for "Threat Matrix", ABC's new '24' like drama, which borrows a lot of the Fox's hit, minus the real-time dramatic. And this is where the good part comes in: You can watch it WITH the occasional chance of missing an episode. As for acting and stories, the episodes I've seen so far are fast-paced, well- acted and well written for a TV show. Come to think that there is a real Threat Matrix report out there, which would give material for endless seasons, one wonders why ABC put this against NBC's MUST SEE TV THURSDAY. I mean, HELLO?!

American xenophobic propaganda dressed up as entertainment for those same ignorant Americans – utterly disgusting, offensive, and repulsive to any non Americans and to anyone with an ounce of common sense.

American TV can be wonderful and entertaining, we only have to look at CSI or '24' for that, ground breaking and extremely well acted at the same time, but this show is utter trash.

This show only goes to show how gullible some Americans can be. I love Americans, and America, and this is not at attack, believe me. This is an attack on blatantly bad program making, using fear and ignorance.

We all hate terrorists in all forms, no matter what their religion, race, colour or whatever. Terrorists need to caught and stopped, but this show promotes the idea that terrorists can be murdered, no matter what, just as long as the United States of America survives, to Hell with any laws or personal freedoms or even the Constitution itself.

Ironically, in my opinion, the only people who should be afraid of Homeland Security Laws are Americans, not any terrorist. Americans, everyday honest working people, are slowly giving up what they pride most... Freedom! This TV show promotes this. This TV show is saying to the American people ... 'We will protect your Freedoms, even if we have to Kill you, Murder you, ignore your Human Rights, and Ignore Local, Federal, and International Laws - We Will Protect Your Freedom - Even if it Kills You!'

This TV show should be stopped now. It's trash.

I wouldn't be surprised if the newfound spokesman for young conservatives, former WWF wrestling champion, The Ultimate Warrior, wrote the first episode of Threat Matrix. Its just what the doctor ordered for his brand of dramatization of the political process. It says that we need wolf-like sheep to fight the wolves in sheep's clothing. Some other person commenting on this program suggested that this show is not afraid to make the bad guy brown-skinned. This show, on the other hand does cover the brown-skinned bad guy in the innocuous garb of white flesh and short hair with a friar's bald spot to demarcate his piety. In other words, he is a white guy. A white guy with the "evil" spirit of a fundamentalist. The message? An extreme Makeover does not actually change a person's soul. In this case, he is still accountable to Allah. For the neo-con, that Allah canbe translated into english as: Authority. Why suggest that you have faith in George W. Bush, or Donald Rumsfeld when they will be out of office before you are done serving your country? You might as well serve some more abstract authority, like the United States of America. This logic, transposed seems to be closer to what the Islamists do. That is why they are called Fundamentalists. They go to fundamental authorities. Let me just say that this show is stylish without saying much, and its plot is complex enough to allow the actors not to act.

This show is kind of funny, because it suggests that we should be glad to give other people access to our security so that they can make sure that it is, in fact, security. So that means trust no-one, except the Threat Matrix.

Here's the deal: If you don't have any expectations it's worth watching.

Quote from the intro-sequence: "Every morning the President receives a report that updates the most active terrorist threats against the United States. This report is called "The Threat Matrix". The department of Homeland Security handpicked teams of agents from the CIA, FBI and the NSA, to analyze and respond to the Threat Matrix report, now their job is to keep us safe." We follow Special Agent John Kilmer (James Denton) and his team who makes a living out of stopping terrorist in reaching their objectives.

And that is mostly what this show is about. Now I know 24 comes to your mind when you see this but this is not 24 and don't think about 24 when you watch it. You'll be disappointed. This is not a bad show, but it's not a masterpiece. It is, however, entertaining and worth watching if you don't take it all too seriously and think too much about it. The cast is good and the stories are OK. The effects could have been done better, but you buy it. Over all it's well made.