TV reviews

In the US: Sundays, Starz

On the face of it, Counterpart is quite a simple beast – an attempt to do a Berlin-set Cold War spy thriller, in which the two opposite sides plan clandestine operations against one another, the other side doing espionage things to counteract those plans. It’s packed with a great cast of mainly British actors, is actually filmed in Germany, and has a lovely sense of pace and tradecraft.

The fillip is that rather than a period piece, Counterpart is set in the modern day. How does that work, given the Cold War is over? Well, the two opposite sides are in parallel universes so it’s as much Earth vs Earth as Spy vs Spy.

The hero of the piece is JK Simmons, a lowly, affable desk jockey who does nothing all day but meaningless paperwork and by night visits his comatose wife (Olivia Williams) in hospital. Except he’s also bad guy (of sorts) since his ‘counterpart’ from the opposite universe is a top spy looking to stop the Cold War between the universes from heating up and who doesn’t mind using Simmons to do it.

Remember why you’re doing this

Episode 1 melds that spy action beautifully with its more existential concerns – why are the two Simmons different? Who else is different? What might happen to your own sense of identity if you knew that you could have been something else? Would you be attracted to that alternative destiny or repelled by it?

Unfortunately, episode 2 then forgets most of that and instead follows a secondary character it tries its best to interest us in but fails miserably. It’s just lots of running around in the dark, redeemed by Simmons’ few appearances.

Thankfully, episode 3 remembers the show’s raison d’être and expands on it. We get to know more about Williams – in both universes – learn a little more about the differences between the two worlds and in what ways they’ve diverged (and why), and get a lot more Simmons. Harry Lloyd makes a welcome return and he’s brought his father-in-law (Richard Schiff) with him, to show us how diplomacy between the two universes works. There are also some lovely poignant moments between alter-Simmons and alter-Williams as we learn why their relationships have diverged and even why alter-Simmons is the way he is. There’s also the obligatory cross, double-cross, bluff and counter-bluff.

Conclusion

Counterpart is a really enjoyable mash-up of the Cold War spy thriller and the metaphysical – when it remembers to be. When it takes its eye off the ball, as it did in episode two, it can also be just a load of murky conversations in murky rooms, without anything interesting to it whatsoever.

Provided it maintains focus, Counterpart will be a welcome addition to the TMINE viewing schedule

Barrometer rating: 2

In the US: Tuesdays, 9/8c, The CW
In the UK: Tuesdays on Netflix

Three episodes into Black Lightning and its starting to find its feet. Starting – it’s not quite there yet.

The CW’s latest superhero show, its main point of innovation is that it features a middle-aged, retired superhero, rather than one who’s just got his origin story on. Said superhero (Cress Williams) is lured back onto the streets, ten years after he hung up his suit, when gang warfare gets bad enough that his now-teenage daughters are caught in the crossfire.

Episode 1 established everything, introduced us to the characters, and generally nicked as much as it could from Luke Cage, filed off all the serial numbers, then pretended they were its own, leading to numerous discussions about what a civic-minded black man needs to do to stand up for his community and family, while not getting shot by the police.

All of which was well and good in the first episode of a superhero show, but by episode two, we were still standing around talking, wondering whether ‘Black Lightning’ should come out of retirement. Again. It didn’t help that the gangs acted and talked like they were from a 70s Blaxploitation movie, almost to the point of the show itself being racist.

For unfathomable, plot-slowing reasons Black Lightning still isn’t properly out of retirement by episode three, although the show almost breathes a sigh of relief when he finally shows up again, since he enlivens the proceedings no end. Fortunately, though, this time we’re not relying for drama on frequent meetings with church leaders to discuss the morality of inaction. Instead, we also have Black Lightning’s elder daughter, who turns out to have inherited not just his alter-ego’s tedious moralising aspects as well, but certain genes, too. Running side by side with Black Lightning’s ‘Mr Incredible’-style return to form, we also get to have her origin story to bring some much needed enjoyment to proceedings.

On top of that, James Remar gets to play the Alfred of the piece, even going undercover in workman’s overalls – if Adam West had turned up with Bat Shark Repellent, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

Political problems

Black Lightning has all the foundations of a fun, different superhero show. It’s got a good cast, often humorous dialogue and some relatively decent action scenes. It could do with a bigger budget, but that’s true of anything on The CW.

Unfortunately, hanging on its shoulders are so much politics that its weighed down at times to the point of being unwatchable. If it can find a balance between the two, it could enjoy the best of both worlds to become both escapist and relevant. If it can do that, it’ll be a keeper.

Barrometer rating: 3