TV Review - The Enemy Within
Ken Woodruff is no stranger to procedural shows involving the FBI. Woodruff was a writer on The Mentalist (2008) and Reverie (2018). This series though has less of a comedic or science-fiction edge as those two shows. This series is more about redemption, a longer road of redemption, as well as some heavier issues surrounding crime like betrayal and grief. These aren't new things. The Mentalist in fact dealt with those same issues but it did so with a more entertaining character, a funnier character, anchored by an actor who could handle both the light and the heavy. Woodruff has actors here who could be that kind of anchor again, but so far his scripts don't allow for that type of lightness, humor or comedy.
It's understandable, given that the show starts off with such a brutal series of killings. The brutality of the attacks really set the table that this show is deadly serious and has no intention of easing from that seriousness. This show is instead about the body count and the blood shed. It's not to say that a TV show can't be deadly serious. Shows like 24, Homeland and even the new Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan are deadly serious shows, and it's clear that this show is trying to operate on those levels. Those shows however had the benefit of possessing really good action scenes, which provided a kind of thrust to keep audiences intrigued even through the normal officers and agents in windowless rooms trying to solve crimes.
Jennifer Carpenter (Limitless and Dexter) stars as Erica Shepherd, a former CIA operative who was arrested as being a Russian spy. She has a daughter named Hannah whom she hasn't seen in years. Erica was blackmailed into becoming an asset for a Russian terrorist named Mikhail Vassily Tal. She helped to set off an attack that killed a number of people, including FBI agents. She was caught and put into prison.
Morris Chestnut (Rosewood and Nurse Jackie) also stars as Will Keaton, a FBI agent whose fiancée was killed as a result of Erica's treason. However, when Tal resurfaces and launches more attacks, Will is told to get Erica out of prison and use her to help find Tal. He hates Erica and doesn't want to do it, but he also wants to capture Tal and he's willing to work with Erica to do it. How far Will is willing to go and how much he's going to let Erica redeem herself are the backbone of this series so far.
Along the way, there's also a secret plot occurring where Tal has an operative in the FBI who is a double-agent. It's not unlike the plot of the first and second seasons of Homeland. There's a lot of production value here, which pushes this series to feel like Homeland. Unfortunately, the characters aren't engaging enough. There's potential, but the characters so far aren't grabbing me. Carpenter and Chestnut are both good actors. The weight and heaviness of the whole thing appears to be holding them down.
Homeland had better writing that let us really click with the two leads. Here, the writing is limited to the procedural aspects. The nature of this show limits what Carpenter can do. Her character is in a jail cell or in handcuffs the majority of the time. The trick of the show is figuring out or justifying reasons to furlough her. My problem with this show is that the show thinks it's justifying her purpose in this story, but I don't think it is.
Presumably, Will needs Erica to help find Tal. However, what we've seen her do doesn't feel all that unique or something that only Erica could do. A lot of her tips or tricks for helping don't seem so endemic to her. It seems like any other skilled agent could have come up with what she comes up with. The third episode in fact questions her tactics in a specific mission for which Will uses Erica. Raza Jaffrey (Codeblack and Smash) co-stars as Daniel Zain, a FBI interrogator who questions Erica and he turns out to be right.
It's rare that a show will undermine its own premise in the third episode, but this one did. Daniel is right. He says they shouldn't follow or utilize Erica and her methods. He turns out to be correct, so it doesn't make sense that this premise continues, at least not with Erica. Having Will be the lead and only lead, focusing on him, seems like the only logical move, but the show will try to continue to justify Erica's presence.
TV-14-V.
Running Time: 1 hr.
Mondays at 10PM on NBC.
Jennifer Carpenter (Limitless and Dexter) stars as Erica Shepherd, a former CIA operative who was arrested as being a Russian spy. She has a daughter named Hannah whom she hasn't seen in years. Erica was blackmailed into becoming an asset for a Russian terrorist named Mikhail Vassily Tal. She helped to set off an attack that killed a number of people, including FBI agents. She was caught and put into prison.
Along the way, there's also a secret plot occurring where Tal has an operative in the FBI who is a double-agent. It's not unlike the plot of the first and second seasons of Homeland. There's a lot of production value here, which pushes this series to feel like Homeland. Unfortunately, the characters aren't engaging enough. There's potential, but the characters so far aren't grabbing me. Carpenter and Chestnut are both good actors. The weight and heaviness of the whole thing appears to be holding them down.
Presumably, Will needs Erica to help find Tal. However, what we've seen her do doesn't feel all that unique or something that only Erica could do. A lot of her tips or tricks for helping don't seem so endemic to her. It seems like any other skilled agent could have come up with what she comes up with. The third episode in fact questions her tactics in a specific mission for which Will uses Erica. Raza Jaffrey (Codeblack and Smash) co-stars as Daniel Zain, a FBI interrogator who questions Erica and he turns out to be right.
TV-14-V.
Running Time: 1 hr.
Mondays at 10PM on NBC.
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