Spy Game, U.K. Style
By Mick Farren
American TV spy shows were never noted for either their authenticity or originality. From The Man from U.N.C.L.E to Get Smart, the average U.S. offering tended to either emulate or spoof the hot movies of the moment. (Usually one or another of the Bond incarnations.) Although currently off-air in response to the writers’ strike, Fox’s 24 came close to being original within the genre, and accordingly amassed a loyal following, although the ticking clock, constant mayhem, and the prevailing attitude that all was fair in the War on Terror – something eagerly embraced by a number of right-wing politicians – made this viewer more than a little uncomfortable.
The Brit spooks on BBC America’s MI-5 (the real U.K. equivalent of the CIA) are also willing to fly in the face of both law and common humanity, but at least the principals – played by Keeley Hawes and David Oyelowo – have the decency to show a measure of guilt and angst when required to intensively interrogate or terminate with extreme prejudice, which also makes for a more gritty and plausibly duplicitous rendering of the spygame. MI-5 takes the position that espionage is an unpleasant, treacherous, and, at times, sleazy occupation; a dirty job, but someone has to do it, or civilization as we know it will be reduced to some unpleasant variation of totalitarian toast. In this, MI-5 leans closer to classic John le Carré than Tom Clancy or Ian Fleming, and relies more on intrigue and betrayal than explosions and gadgetry, which – conventional Hollywood wisdom notwithstanding – makes for much more complex and compelling television.
BBC America, Wed. at 9 p.m.
Published: 05/07/2008
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT
