Dig

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.

Intelligent shows that don't cater to a dumbed down viewing audience take time to build momentum! I don't really subscribe to the negative regarding new shows. I think after a season one can tell what the forecast might be for an upcoming story line. I'll give this one a try. I think we will see some really good acting and compelling conflict. I am a sucker for any pre apocalyptic adventures relating to old and new testament prophecies. I really liked the mixture of groups with varied interests in the show. We have the orthodox Judaic groups, a cultic group in the middle of New Mexico, political powers in lofty positions, religious fanatic hit men, FBI, Essenes, and then some. What is not to like? I love the cinematography in Jerusalem too. What a beautiful historic location. This show has much to offer for anyone who sees the glass half full.

I am having trouble remembering when I wanted so badly to love a new series.

First the star, Jason Issacs, is one of the most under-utilized action heroes in the biz. I saw him a few years ago in a mini-series about politics in Boston and he was brilliant. He held the series together like glue. He has the kind of face that you instantly trust and he has the looks of a guys who gets things done.

And seeing Kring's name on the creator credit was also a plus. I am one of those fans of Heroes who still doesn't quite get why a show that was mesmerizing in its first year suddenly lost an entire audience? I still watch old episodes of Heroes even today, they are that good. ("Save the cheerleader, save the world" should be right up there with "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.") So, apologies made, this is not a series I can get my teeth into.

In my view it is primarily intended for viewers who love a good crossword puzzle or jigsaw puzzle or any kind of puzzle, because that's all you get from week to week. Puzzle pieces and clues.

In script talk, the long arc essentially dominates the short arc and the short arc exists only as a excuse to extend the long arc.

There are people who love puzzles that have no answers. I am not one of them.

But you might be.

We watched this show each and every week. The entire house would discuss the intrigue and the complex plot, the baddies, who was a goodie, or not. Right up to the last episode and then ... then ... what happened, it just died, all the complex plotting all the mysterious characters, just dissolved into nothing and the show ended. We sat there on the lounge and looked at each other, we wanted to cry. How could they do this to us, who's responsible! What a crock of SH!T.

Even though we were left in tears of utter disappointment at the end, all the episodes until then were gripping and we loved every minute. I recommend watching all but the last episode, then just be happy with your fantasies about how it could have ended. Anything you dream up on your own will be better than that last awful episode.

Maybe it will become an internet meme - the "Dig" alternate ending competition. I still want to cry.

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.