I can't say that I was particularly excited about the idea of "Treadstone" - Bourne without Bourne, it doesn't seem like rich enough world to go deeper into. However, I made it through the first season as it arrived on Amazon Prime and whilst it's not an unqualified success, it was good enough that I'd want to watch a second run.
In Eastern Europe '73 an American CIA agent Bentley (Jeremy Irvine) attempts to escape the clutches of a KGB mind control program, but how deeply into the conditioning has he already gone. Whilst in the present day, several deep cover "cicada" assets are being awoken and sent after targets. This includes North Korean housewife SoYun Pak (Hyo-joo Han), former soldier Stephen Haynes (Patrick Fugit) and oil rig worker Doug McKenna (Brian J. Smith). The assassinations seem related to an old discredited news story about a missing warhead by Journalist Tara Coleman (Tracey Ifeachor).
For the first couple of episodes, I really was surprised about how much I enjoyed "Treadstone" - the country hopping and time hopping aspects of the show I enjoyed, assuming that it would all come together at some point. I liked the dynamic fight scenes and the stunts. The longer it ran though, more my interest has dwindled. The 70's plot I'll admit I lost track off, with its double and triple crosses and referring to characters I didn't really remember. I liked the visual look of it, but apart from how it ended up, I couldn't really tell you how we got there. The present day stuff was better, but became less interesting as it focused more on who was running Treadstone and what they did, it became just like any other CIA/spy show - a room full of technicians and shouting bosses.
It's passible enough entertainment and I'll be back for the second season, but it's hard to argue with any of the people who didn't like it.
