TV Shows #29

Treason (2022)
Developed By: Matt Charman
Starring: Charlie Cox, Olga Kurylenko, Oona Chaplin, Ciarán Hinds, Tracy Ifeachor, Danila Kozlovsky, Alex Kingston, Beau Gadsdon, Samuel Leakey

Certificate: 15 Running Time: 37-44 Minutes per Episode (approx), 5 Episodes

I was thinking about spy/espionage-related films and shows recently and realised they must be not only one of my favourite genres but one of the most popular generally too, considering how many of them there are. Is it more of a recent thing or have there always been so many? Most of the ones I've seen are of course based around the CIA or some other secret American government thing but I don't recall seeing many British examples involving MI6. Well, not counting James Bond of course (guffaw!). But in recent months I have stumbled upon not one but two examples - crikey! The shortest of the two is Treason, a miniseries (or 'limited' series, as they are now apparently called) consisting of a mere five episodes which take place during the race to determine the next Prime Minister. It starts right at the top too, with the chief of MI6 known as 'C' - Sir Martin Angelis (Hinds) - using kompromat to blackmail a supreme court judge, only to find himself a target.

Not of blackmail though, but of a mysterious waitress at the classy restaurant/club where he's just finished his meeting with aforementioned judge. The waitress, as we later discover, is not actually a waitress at all (egads!) but Kara (Kurylenko), a Russian spy and former SVR operative who slipped something spooky into his drink. With that cad out of the way, it falls to his deputy, Adam Lawrence (Cox), to step up and take charge of the UK's entire foreign intelligance service (eek!)

The new 'C' lays down the law...

Almost immediately, however, he is suspected of being a double agent working for those pesky Russkies, specifically Kara with whom he does have a previous working and *ahem* personal relationship from their time spent in Baku working for their respective spook services. Meanwhile, his idiotic wife Maddy (Chaplin), despite having a military background herself, starts getting suspicious of Adam's activities. I mean, he's only the head of the nation's foreign intelligence service, it's no biggie if he tells her about his days in great detail, right? Remarkably, he does not do this to her satisfaction so of course, she ends up sneaking around checking on him which makes things worse for him as well as herself and their children, especially when her old American army buddy Dede (Ifeachor) arrives in town to 'catch up'.

The fact that Dede also now works for the CIA doesn't ring any alarm bells for the dunderheaded Maddy either, it seems. The big question, though, is what does Kara want, and how is Adam involved in it? And I suppose also, given the timing, what does it have to do with the political leadership race between Adam's pal (kind of) Audrey Gratz (Kingston) and her opponent Robert Kirby (Simon Lenagan)?

The cretinous Maddy and the kids are startled...

On first impressions, it seems like Treason is going to be yet another run-of-the-mill-but-still-potentially-interesting espionage thriller, and it has most of the ingredients to be just that. The plot could be better, or at least give you more to feel invested in, as there never really seems to be any major global or even national security implications. Not to the extent of most shows (or films) of this nature anyway. There is a good mix of politics and action, though, a few interesting characters, some great location work around London, and it's not as predictable as you might think for an example of this genre. There are a couple of problems though, or there were for me at least. First is a character - Maddy - who causes all sorts of problems, pretty much just because she can't trust her husband has reasons for being secretive (and reasons she should be well aware of too). More surprisingly, the second is an actor.

The lead actor too, no less - Charlie Cox - who just doesn't seem to fit the role. He's far too young to be head of MI6 (yes, this is addressed in the show, but still) and there's just something missing from his performance for me. He doesn't really seem to command the confidence or authority required of his position, I guess; Or even of a lower-ranked MI6 operative. He also seems oddly unconvincing in the action scenes which was a real surprise considering his exellent work in Daredevil.

These two issues along with the decision to focus the story on people rather than events resulted in Treason not really really clicking for me. The poster for the show points out that it's by the same writer as Bridge of Spies which also focuses on the people more than the events it depicted, but the two aren't even in the same league. I realise Bridge of Spies is a big-budget movie with an all-time great director and an A-list cast, but it made you care about the characters, even the so-called bad guy. Treason is a quality production and some of the cast are great (particularly Hinds and Kurylenko), but they weren't enough to move me nearer the edge of my seat, never mind keep me there. It's just not exciting enough, sadly.

RKS Score: 5/10