Directors: Seth Gordon, Raama Mosley, Adam Arkin, Guy Ferland, Millicent Shelton
This new series destroyed my sleep during the bank holiday weekend, but I am grateful it was a holiday at least so I did not have to go to work having not slept. I started to watch it on Saturday and did not let it go so I went to sleep at 10.30 am on Sunday. I just had to see it all as I knew I could not sleep. The series is definitely my cup of tea and absolutely fantastic. It has action, excitement and the element of guessing, what on earth is happening. Or who is the traitor here?
The series follows the work of a low-key FBI agent who is manning a phone in the basement of the White House that never rings. But, of course, this one time it rings and the world of espionage opens with Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) calling the number her aunt and uncle give her on the night of an attack on their house full of mysterious statements Rose hears when going downstairs. Her relatives sent her to another empty house to use the phone, as all comms got cut off in their house, to call the number and dictate the exact same words as a code. Rose does as she is told and survives the attackers following her due to instruction a low-key FBI agent, Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) gives her via phone. Peter then looks after her and protects her as a key witness.
The series continues with numerous attempts to kill Rose and once he becomes too involved Peter too. At the same time, the two realise they do not know whom to trust in the White House as it is clear there is a traitor, so they start investigating on their own. They had to decide to trust each other and keep trying to guess whom to trust and share information with throughout the series. Some decisions were right, some were not, and this contributes towards engagement with the programme. What is more, the relationship between the FBI and the White House as well as a relationship between the US Secret Service and the White House is also interestingly portrayed as showing an inclination to protecting the turf and all these offices trying to navigate their jobs, stepping onto other services’ jobs but then kicking off when someone steps into theirs, which was interestingly portrayed.
The series has that nice element of showing us the history of characters and how they came to their current position, not just Peter and Rose but also key people from the White House and also criminals who work for traitors and are trying to kill witnesses and have a do-over of a camouflaged terrorist attack that is actually meant to kill someone else…
Absolutely outstanding for those who enjoy this type of programme. I certainly do and have not seen something like this for a while, so it was truly exhilarating to watch. But then again, one of the directors is Seth Gordon, so is this a surprise for those who know his outstanding work?
Thank you for reading.