Countdown to Thirteen: The Assets: Episode 8 – “Avenger” (2014)

Last episode of The Assets.  A mixed bag overall, I’d say – some really excellent scenes, and some that are just kind of there.  On the whole, it’s not too much of a “wow” of a finale, but although the nuts-and-bolts plot stuff falls down a little, the emotional impact is still strong.

Eight-episode miniseries about hunting a mole within the CIA; guess what episode 8 is about?  The investigation is closing in, but the team’s evidence is never quite enough.  Sandy fears that, after everything they’ve done, the mole will slip through their fingers.

As I said, the plot/spy stuff is a bit so-so.  There’s one knockout scene of Sandy in the field (sort of – she’s in the next room with a microphone talking a case officer through a debrief with a potential new asset,) and after having seen her spend so much time handling data in office rooms, it’s a treat to watch her in action.  A lot of the rest, though?  Kinda meh.  It’s perhaps a by-product of the show being based on a true story, since history doesn’t always play out in the most dramatically-compelling way, but the whole cat-and-mouse routine between the CIA and the mole isn’t terribly exciting.  There’s no huge smoking gun or brilliant insight to bring the mole down – it just sort of happens in a comparatively undramatic way.

Where the finale succeeds, though, is in the emotion.  Sandy has a few great moments coming to terms with the assets lost through the mole’s actions, and the lowkey subplot of Sandy and her husband struggling with the strain her job places on their relationship is resolved really beautifully (shoutout to Julian Ovenden as Sandy’s husband Gary, because he rocks in this episode.)

Accent Watch

Generic American – tiny bit flat at times, but quite good.

Recommend?

In General – I think so.  While it has its clunky moments, I think it’s ultimately worth it.  It deserves a lot of credit for how the assets themselves and their stories are portrayed.

Jodie Whittaker – I would.  Whittaker’s work as Sandy is often subtle but effective, and when she’s asked to step up, she really nails it.

Warnings

Violence, thematic elements, mild sexual content, and smoking/drinking.