I have been writing about some of the new summer’s shows and have not found much to praise except some notable series’ returns. The jury is still out on SyFy’s Haven, and I have maintained only a faint interest in Persons Unknown (what can I say, I get bored enough to watch it?). I had no hopes, let alone high hopes, for AMC’s Rubicon. Then again, I was maybe just a little hopeful -okay, I said it- after the basic cable network’s success (disserved success) with shows such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men. I was going to be VERY open-minded for this one.
Rubicon is the story of a widowed analyst, Will Travers (James Badge Dale (who earlier this year headlined HBO’s The Pacific) at a New York City-based federal intelligence agency, who stumbles over a code, he will surely try to break. We are spared from long, wordy explanations about this person and his past. Rather we hear it all in one quick dialogue: supposed to meet daughter and wife at Twin Towers on 9/11, was late, they’re gone, he is no longer late. The rest comes by simply exposing the character through action and interaction… almost feels like a breath of fresh air these days.
He works with his father-in-law and shows him his odd find first: Crossword puzzles that are seemingly repeating clues across papers, representing four branches of government… but what is the fourth branch? Only a day after asking him that, Will Travers’ father-in-law is believed to be dead. (and that train scene was at the same time expected and a total surprise… I love understatement and realism) While I am already wiggling in my seat thinking: Come on Will, you must see that that is odd… the series takes its time, lets him grieve, and meet a friend of his father-in-law.
What begins here with a game of phone-chess, I hope, will become a long and interesting friendship between the old and the new, the classic conspiracy movie and the hyper-tech-conspiracy thrillers we have now. Because the story unfolds slowly in the mind of this old friend, Ed Bancroft (Roger Robinson), and in the minds of the grey eminences from the ‘top floor’, who know the pattern was found, who wonder if they can move forward… We as an audience are as of now, kept as exactly that - outsiders looking in. The characters and plot play out so beautifully that I am finally not mad that nothing is given to the audience, because I care about the story more, than about the big mystery, I guess. But that is good television that is Quality Television without all of its soap-opera-origin trappings.
I think we can all agree that certain observations of genre rules (established by success more often than not, mind you) can be helpful in generating a great genre piece and for the critics to remain somewhat guided, and possibly a little objective.
What does make great thrillers, great? The best of the best thrillers excelled at doing something that made us excited, kept us invested until the end. Most televised thrillers have thus faced a seemingly impossible obstacle in the medium’s long form, or so it seems to me. And the first big conspiracy theory series of the summer, Persons Unknown, although entertaining, falls short of keeping me excited, especially due to its low-quality visuals, questionable performances, and lack of consistently moving plot; for a good thriller never stops.
The most successful thrillers and conspiracy films present the viewer with a maze, both narratively and visually. Camera work is used to enhance that feeling of never-ending winding streets and claustrophobia. The audience is pushed into a low-lit world of shadows, or sterile environments to become actively engaged in the unraveling of a mystery, even if it is just by hunching closer to the screen, or moving your head while trying to look around a corner you will never see around.
The villains are by necessity obtuse beings, often corporations and organizations, but this works for audiences because the foot soldiers, robots, and computer tech, and manipulation of ‘friends’ create direct points of conflict. The bad guys in Persons Unknown are not really bad. They are, but there is no one to fight that is tangible. Players on the screen as of yet, do not make villains. Pushing the grey-matter is not really the best choice for a conspiracy thriller. The background music is hardly ever more than a backdrop, but one that allows us to anticipate, breathe, and hold our breaths. And AMC’s Rubicon, even in it’s first episode, has made a big promise to audiences by masterfully incorporating these elements in what is but a brief snippet of what is to come. The claustrophobic tension is tangible and camera angles are executed perfectly. My favorite shot is Will Travers, who in accepting his father-in-laws former position, moving up the ranks, is walking up a staircase. The camera is positioned so that the walls take over most of the frame. Will is moving up, but pushed into a tight corner. Why talk if you can show, and make us feel… When Will goes to visit Ed Bancroft, Ed opens the door cautiously. And we see another small hallway, followed by another door, more locks, more doors. He walks into the kitchen with a pass-through… It’s a warm environment, homey, but it is box after box after box in the frame. And I am hoping we get to open them all.
Refreshingly, extra-textual references are not hitting you in the face, the story is suspended in the post-9/11 space-time continuum, but nothing more specific seems important as of yet; the big mystery is handled believably by understatement, rather than the over-hyped-panic-mode that we have unfortunately come accustomed to. I mean, honestly, do you think one small leak would be targeted with major operations from the get go? That would belie the intelligence we suppose goes hand in hand with a decent conspiracy plot, no? I rarely give praise after series premieres, as you, my readers, are well aware of, but here, I couldn’t help myself. And, if the series is what it promised, the next 11 weeks will be so much better for a little bright light in summer-TV-darkness.
BG
Ps.: Now the only thing I am not sure what to do with… Why is Sledge Hammer in the previews for the series???
Posts
