CONDOR Takes Flight

Article first published as TV Review: CONDOR on Seat42F.

I’m not a big fan of military or spy thrillers. I like some OK, especially if they incorporate comedy or psychological aspects into them, but in general, they’re not really my cup of tea. So when I saw just a bit about CONDOR, a new drama on the Audience Network for AT&T and DirecTV subscribers, I can’t say I was all that enticed by it

As I sat down to watch the show, it started out as a series that backed up my negative impression. There’s a murder in the desert, followed by the introduction of a strong, somewhat silent, lonely, muscular leading man. It begins to look like a bunch of other shows that did fine during their runs, but weren’t all that gripping, in my opinion.

But as the first hour unfolded, slowly CONDOR began to get under my skin. Joe Turner (Max Irons, The White Queen), despite looking like a boring leading man and being frustratingly unforthcoming with a girl he’s interested in, has layers. He struggles with morality and the part he plays in a deadly program based on predictive models, not evidence. He’s at odds with the CIA, who use his work. While parts of him are very formulaic, there’s also a charisma about him that is compelling.

Then the supporting cast took shape. Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected) as Joe’s friend Sam Barber? Yes, please! Kristen Hager (Being Human) as Sam’s feisty wife, Mae? Even better. Brendan Fraser (The Mummy), who hasn’t been seen in a long time, as a bad guy? All right, I’m on board. Bob Balaban (Capote, The Monuments Men) and William Hurt (Humans, Avengers: Infinity War)? Now we’ve got some gravitas going on.

At last, the story begins picking up. I’m not saying it should have jumped into the action sooner; no, CONDOR does a terrific job of slowly unspooling things you need to know before it gets intense. Early parts of the episode are interesting, but much more so as the later scenes unfold. By the time we reach the climax of the pilot, I’m already very into it, and as the closing credits roll, I’m disappointed to find I don’t have a second episode.

What is it about CONDOR that makes it worth watching? Well, it certainly poses some big questions that are worth asking and evade easy answers. If you suspected, without a shred of proof, that someone would hurt lots of people, should you take them out? Are a few mistakes of this nature worth it when balanced against the tens of thousands or more you might save when you get the right person? This is definitely relevant today, as it has been throughout human history, and will be for the foreseeable future. Only now, we actually have to look at such a question in more than a hypothetical manner.

It also just feels authentic. From the beautiful DC setting, to the dynamics of the characters, to the subtlety present in almost every scene, there’s a real, fully-formed element to the production. It’s well acted, well written, and the pacing is perfect. I really didn’t find much to nitpick, other than where it falls into stereotypes, which thankfully it doesn’t do too often.

I don’t want to gush too much. It hasn’t cracked my Top 10 list of must-see shows, and it’s hard to imagine how CONDOR could sustain and repeat the shock value of its pilot. But there are some very strong pieces making up the whole, and it’s an excellent first episode, so I would recommend watching it.

CONDOR airs Wednesday evenings on Audience Network, and the pilot can currently be viewed for free on the network’s website.

The KINGDOM Belongs to DIRECTV

Article first published as KINGDOM Review on Seat42F.

To me, the description for DIRECTV’s KINGDOM, a series about a family involved in mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting, reads like a Cinemax program description. It’s centered around gritty violence and rough characters, which, to be honest, is not something I’d get excited about watching. However, sitting down with the actual pilot, it starts to evoke strains of Rocky, a terrific film, and the family drama is a larger part of the story than anticipated, to its credit. KINGDOM is actually a really good show.

KINGDOM takes place at the Navy Street gym, which is run by Alvey Kulina (Frank Grillo, The Gates, Warrior). Alvey is a kind man, refusing to kick out patrons who don’t pay. Yet, he’s far from a pushover, having cut off one of his sons, Jay (Jonathan Tucker, Parenthood, The Ruins), who is on a destructive path. Alvey is happy, living with girlfriend and business partner, Lisa Prince (Kiele Sanchez, The Glades, The Purge: Anarchy), and training his other son, Nate (Jonas Brother Nick Jonas), a promising up-and-coming MMA fighter who may hold the key to Alvey’s financial problems.

The family dynamic in KINGDOM is rich and complex. All of those actors listed in the above paragraph hold their weight, Jonas having matured into a real actor, and the rest having credits enough already to prove they can do something. Some of the players get more interaction with each other than others, so the series has plenty left to explore, and I find myself drawn in to this group, enough to overcome my aversion to the source material.

If you love fighting, you’ll get plenty of that, plus a strong story to back it up. There are bloody scenes in the first episode, mainly involving Nick. By the time those come around, viewers have been given reason to invest in the outcome, and that adds tension to the proceedings. You may be nervous for Nate, wanting him to succeed, and that’s exactly what a pilot should accomplish.

Despite the tension between Alvey and Jay, it’s a relatively happy family. Jay lives with Nate, so he isn’t completely cut off from his clan, and there’s a truce struck. Jay stays away from the gym, for the most part, but supports his brother. Surely, the chemistry will change a bit as Jay gets more involved, as he must, but that’s OK. That’s what we want to see, conflict that will lead to growth.

Enter into this Ryan Wheeler (Matt Lauria, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights), Lisa’s ex-fiancé, a prize-winning fighter, who has just been released from prison. Ryan and Alvey are good friends, but Ryan made a lot of mistakes, hence why he has been behind bars. Ryan is the total wild card of KINGDOM. He says he’s cleaned himself up, and most of the initial hour backs this up, seeing him attending meetings and not forcing himself back into a situation he has been absent from. But can anyone really change, and once back in the old environment, will Ryan revert to his former ways? And will Alvey let Ryan come back to the gym, either as a fighter or a trainer?

It would be really easy for KINGDOM to get soapy here, dwelling too much on Lisa and Ryan’s former relationship and distracting from the larger arcs. Thankfully, the writers understand how the pieces are supposed to fit together, and don’t let melodrama overrun the quality kind. The story is a bit of a slow burn in that we don’t yet know what kind of implications Ryan brings, even after having been around for a full episode, but that’s a good thing, letting these story and characters take a natural course.

I see KINGDOM as sort of like Showtime’s Ray Donovan, although the characters here are more likeable and the plot is easier to get drawn into. It’s definitely a worthy television entry, and as someone who doesn’t get DIRECTV, so hasn’t been familiar with their original programming, it makes me want to see more.

KINGDOM airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m., beginning tonight, exclusively on DIRECTV’s Audience network.

Friday Night Lights kicks off new season

    This isn't such big news for those of you with DirecTV, because you've already had the opportunity to watch the entire fourth season on Friday Night Lights, but for the rest of us, the show premiered last night on NBC with an episode entitled "East of Dillon".

     Much has changed, now that Dillon has split into two high schools.  Mrs. Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) remains at the now renamed West Dillon High School as principal.  Many people in the town are furious to be forced into the new, lesser school, though Mrs. Taylor admirably tried to convince them that both high schools were on equal footing.  Her daughter, Julie (Aimee Teegarden) also goes to West, but misses her friends, and isn't helping the controversy much, so she decides on her own that she'll go to the wrong side of town.

     Landry (Jesse Plemons) is at West, now assigned to a terrible football team.  He is joined by Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and new kid Vince (Michael B. Jordan), who is on the football team to avoid legal trouble, but seems to have a lot of heart.  The team is so bad their first time out that they forfeit at half time.  They all certainly have their work cut out for them.

     The only other original cast member to return full time this year is Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), though he is past high school, and now a college drop out with no place to go, as he is no longer welcome at home.  We got a glimpse of Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford), taking art classes at the local school, instead of in Chicago, as he had dreamed, but he was listed only as a guest star, and won't be sticking around the entire season.

     Friday Night Lights airs Friday nights at 9pm on NBC.