Article first published as TV Review: COUNTERPART on Seat42F.
COUNTERPART is a new drama premiering on Starz
tonight (though fans of Outlander might have already seen the pilot,
which aired ‘sneak preview’ style after the recent series finale). The
story follows a mild-mannered man who has spent his career in an
unsatisfyingly low-level job within a secretive part of the UN. Said
man, Howard Silk, has his life suddenly disrupted when he finds out that
his employer is actually guarding a gateway to a parallel reality. And
he learns this because a tough, commanding version of himself crosses
over to defect and help them stop a serial killer.
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, Spiderman) is
brilliant as both versions of Silk, the leading role he deserves.
Simmons is one of those performers who got the supporting player and
character roles for far too long, but can totally handle headlining. It
almost seems like COUNTERPART is making it up to him by giving him two
such roles at once, and complex ones at that. For Simmons alone, I would
like to watch this show.
He is joined by a brilliant supporting
cast. Harry Lloyd (Manhattan) plays his boss, Peter Quayle. Olivia
Williams (Manhattan) is Silk’s wife, Emily, who seems to have quite a
different relationship with the protagonist on each side. Jamie Bamber
(Battlestar Galactica) is Emily’s tool of a brother. Sara Serraiocco
(Worldly Girl) is the enigmatic, gender-fluid assassin. There are quite a
few more characters, too, but these are the ones that stand out the
most in the pilot.
In terms of genre, COUNTERPART crosses a
couple of them. Its narrative structure is that of a spy thriller.
There’s a cat-and-mouse aspect to the espionage, and real danger.
Violence is a tool, not the point of it all, and there is plenty of
mystery. There is a Cold War feel to the hunt, two sides who could cause
great damage to one another, staring across the abyss, full-fledged
conflict threatening to erupt. And, of course, one cannot deny the
strong science fiction aspect.
Speaking to the sci-fi, there is a
promising premise here to be explored. It’s interesting that they
establish these two realities used to be one, splitting off at a defined
point. Given how different things have gone on each side, one really
wonders about specific events and their importance. I think it would
behoove the show to explore the past as well as the present as the tale
unfolds, as viewers will be curious at how some of the divergences
happened. Plus, we don’t yet know all the rules of the separation and
what might be done, nor much about the code work Silk was doing, which
definitely seems to have larger meaning than we see in episode one.
In short, I really, really dig
COUNTERPART. While it shares some familiar elements with other series,
it also appears to have its own, strong identity, and a rich world to
explore. I have no idea where things are going, which is a big plus on a
show like this, but I can’t wait to see them play out. With the stellar
cast, especially Simmons, it seems likely that even weaker moments will
play well. Though, the pilot seemingly lacked those weak moments, which
hopefully keeps up as the show goes on (always an iffy prospect for
high-concept sci-fi, which often stumbles when forced to explain
everything).
Starz has a great series here. I only
wonder why they didn’t keep it paired with Outlander. I feel like there
is enough common DNA, though the two shows are very different, that it
could keep some of the same audience. True, Starz might want to maintain
the viewers when Outlander isn’t on, but they seem like such a natural
pairing, it looks to be a missed opportunity to air them in different
seasons.
COUNTERPART premieres tonight at 9/8c on Starz.
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