What Is THE COMEY RULE?

 Article first published as TV Review: THE COMEY RULE on Seat42F.

Showtime presented a two-part miniseries this week entitled THE COMEY RULE. Based on the book A Higher Loyalty by James Comey himself, it tells the former F.B.I. director’s version of events during the 2016 presidential election and the period immediately following. It is a biased account, to be sure, and it’s unlikely the majority of Republican voters will give it a chance to tell Comey’s side of the story. But that’s part of the point, and there’s a cautionary tale here worth listening to.

Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) stars as James Comey, which immediately lends gravitas to the official, probably more than he deserves. Comey’s perspective throughout is that he must stay morally pure and apolitical, even as his agency is forced to wade into politics, first with the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, and then with Donald Trump’s connections to Russia. Throughout, Comey is faced with impossible decisions about what to reveal and to whom, and he stays steady, following his own judgment and code of justice. Viewers will feel his pain and root for him, despite knowing the fate that awaits.

Now, even in THE COMEY RULE, there are plenty of people who disagree with Comey at nearly every step. His wife, Patrice (Jennifer Ehle, The Looming Tower), wants him to help Hillary, as do his four daughters. (His two sons never appear nor garner a mention.) His employees, who genuinely seem to respect and care about him, also argue some of the decisions he makes. The whole miniseries is couched in Rod Rosenstein (Scoot McNairy, Halt and Catch Fire) lamenting to a subordinate that Comey didn’t have to shoot himself in the foot.

However, THE COMEY RULE asserts that Comey is right and the rest are wrong. It talks about Comey’s arrogance, but in Daniels’ performance, it feels more like heroism than ego. There is one protagonist, and this series paints him in an almost saintly light.

That isn’t the only skewed point of view. Attorney General Loretta Lynch (Michael Hyatt, Snowfall) and most of the Department of Justice are seen as ineffectual and weak, at best, incompetent at worse. On Comey’s staff, we see Peter Strzok (Steven Pasquale, Rescue Me) and Lisa Page (Oona Chaplin, Game of Thrones) sleep together (well, no sex scenes, though there’s enough to make it obvious), but none of the scandal that resulted from their relationship is shown. This doesn’t feel fair and balanced, nor very realistic to the actual events.

Of course, Donald Trump (Brendan Gleeson, Mr. Mercedes) and his henchmen come across as villainous. But honestly, how could any sane or reasonable telling of events show them any other way? That’s not a political statement, that’s just fact, given the actions taken and the words spoken, many of which have been collaborated in real life or seen in full public view. Nor does THE COMEY RULE make any excuses for them.

There is a message worth hearing in THE COMEY RULE, though, and that’s that institutions and what is right alone cannot protect us. Not now; not with the current administration. One can quibble over if Comey should have said anything about Hillary’s emails or revealed the F.B.I. was looking into connections between Trump and Russia, and those are worthwhile debates to have. But at the end of the day, Comey thought that acting in good faith and relying on the system and norms would save him, and not only was he wrong, but all of us have been living with the consequences of it. That isn’t an assertion that Comey should have or could have spared us from a Trump presidency, but more a lesson to anyone that thinks the same way he does.

November is right around the corner, and I’m glad THE COMEY RULE aired now. Even if it will only be watched by liberals (and the smart Republicans that have defected), as well that small number of independents, it’s important to hear. We can’t afford to let this go on, and Trump must be stopped. Which cannot be done without overwhelming support rising up to stop him.

The miniseries may be somewhat mediocre, despite fantastic performances by far more fine performers than those listed above. But the message is anything but.

Watch THE COMEY RULE now wherever you stream Showtime programming.

Nothing TABOO

Article first published as TABOO Review on Seat42F.

FX’s newest drama is TABOO, premiering tonight. It is the story of a man, James Keziah Delaney, who has spent the past decade in Africa under shady circumstances, and who has just returned home to London, England in the year of Our Lord 1814. Inheriting his father’s property and shipping business should be an easy thing, but even if Delaney were right in the head, which he doesn’t seem to be, he’d find it a challenge given the dark mysteries of his family and the many enemies who seek his wealth for themselves.

Given that TABOO is airing on FX, it stars the terrific Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant), and is created by Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders fame, as well as Tom and his father, I expect good things from the series. Its ensemble cast, which includes Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, Game of Thrones), Oona Chaplin (The Hour, Quantum of Solace), Michael Kelly (House of Cards), Mark Gatiss (Sherlock), Jason Watkins (Trollied), Nicholas Woodeson (Rome), Tom Hollander (The Night Manager), Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire), Franka Potente (Copper), Jefferson Hall (Vikings), and more, adds even more promise. There is lots of talent bringing their skills to bear on this one!

Which means it’s extra disappointing when the show ends up being a dud, a rare misstep for FX.

I’d say the biggest problem is that it doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere. The pacing is very slow, but rather than feeding us bits of the story as it goes to keep us engaged, very little happens or is revealed in the first hour. It plods along and I keep waiting for even a little bit of a hook, but fail to find one.

The other option a series has, besides a gripping story, is to have very magnetic characters, but TABOO lacks those as well. Pryce is always wonderful, and I enjoy him as a villain here. Chaplin is very good in this, too, her character of Zilpha having a very weird relationship with half-brother Delaney. Others of the group do a decent job, but don’t stand out as all that memorable, and Delany himself isn’t well-defined enough to be interesting. He has a little bit of a presence, but trying to attribute mystic qualities to him just because he spent time in Africa (nope, doesn’t get any more specific than that) feels forced, and there really isn’t anything in the pilot to make you want to root for him, or even care what happens to him.

So what we’re left with is an hour that’s pretty excruciating to sit through, and it ends without any motivating factor to tune in again.

What TABOO does well is the production design. The gritty side of old London comes through strongly, providing nice contract to less grounded productions. For those who watch a lot of PBS, this is going to have a very different feel. The shadows and the muck work well with the tone the series is trying to set, and the opulence of the East India Trading Company clashes nicely with the more common men and women portrayed. The world is built is visually neat.

That isn’t enough, though, for repeat watching. It puzzles me why the BBC ran this, or why FX would want to pick it up, as it seems off-brand for both. I’m not sure where it fits in their lineups, especially on the American cable network, and I can’t imagine it’s going to stick around for a second season, given the lackluster reviews its getting. It doesn’t seem likely to draw many eyeballs on either platform.

TABOO premieres tonight at 10/9c on FX.