Countdown to Thirteen: The Assets: Episode 1 – “My Name is Aldrich Ames” (2014)

This based-on-true-events miniseries is off to a decent start, I’d say.  First off, it gives me my first chance to use the Starring Role tag in a Countdown to Thirteen post, so I’m expecting to see a lot more Jodie Whittaker in the remaining seven episodes.  And while the opening of this Cold War-era spy drama feels a little boilerplate, I think it has potential.

In recent months, the CIA has been losing assets within the KGB at an alarming rate, which officer Sandy Grimes only learns after one of her own assets is compromised.  As she wrestles with what hand her decisions may have played in the agent’s capture, she readies herself to discover how the KGB is furrowing out the assets.

The first episode, I’d say, is slightly unremarkable but still gets the job done.  Other than Sandy, not many of the characters are very distinct yet, and there’s a bit of a generic feel to the proceedings.  However, there’s enough here that it could shape up pretty nicely; the main story takes its time getting rolling, and there’s a nice blend of suspense and puzzle.  (Also, there is as yet no gross creep in the proceedings – the baddies definitely aren’t nice guys, but their motives are political – which is enough to make me ready to see more.)

As I said, Whittaker has a lead role in this miniseries, so she’s our Sandy.  At the moment, it appears that she mainly works in an office at Langley, handling the moving parts of spy operations but not carrying them out herself.  This is obviously a different beast than the female-led spy shows I’m more familiar with, a la Nikita, Agent Carter, or Atomic Blonde.  It doesn’t look like Sandy’s going to be doing too much in the way of actual butt-kicking.

But that’s okay, because it appears that she’s more about using her smarts from behind the scenes.  Episode 1 shows her to be an intelligent, dedicated CIA officer, someone who’s prepared to take risks if she deems that that’s the way to go, but someone who cares about what happens to the agents caught in the crossfire if her plans don’t pan out.  She’s also balancing a high-pressure, top-secret work life with a more “typical” family life at home – shades of Susan in The Bletchley Circle, although Sandy seems to have a more understanding partner than Susan, which helps on that front.

A couple of familiar faces so far (all British – is this a British production of a story about the American CIA?  Interesting.)  Stuart Milligan, who played Richard Nixon in series 6 of Who, is one of Sandy’s colleagues, as is Christina Cole, who I mainly know from playing the “mean girl” in adaptations of classic female-driven novels.  Seriously, I’ve seen her as Mrs. Elton, Caroline Bingley, and Blanche Ingram!  The woman knows how to be classist and bitchy.

Accent Watch

Generic American, not too bad – I caught a couple slips, but for the most part, it sounds convincing.

Recommend?

In General – Hard to say yet.  As of now, I’m not convinced, but now that things have kicked off, I feel like it’s going to go uphill from here.

Jodie Whittaker – Probably.  Again, it’s early days, but my first impressions of Whittaker in the role are of a capable, determined woman who’s both steely and compassionate – I like what I see!

Warnings

Violence, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements