TV: Hijack
On The Wire, Idris Elba made an early mark as Stringer Bell, one of TV history’s most fascinating, memorable schemers. Apple’s Hijack is the best “mastermind” vehicle for him in years, …
TV: Tehran (Season 2)
While Apple’s Israeli-produced, Iran-set thriller Tehran is by no means as impressive as its hit spy series Slow Horses, it’s a brisk, respectable saga notable for its refreshingly non-western perspective. …
TV: Tehran (Season 1)
Say what you will about its logistical verisimilitude, it’s refreshing to see a spy series both produced by and set in the Middle East, bereft of Hollywood’s traditional one-dimensional depictions …
TV: Berlin Station (Season 3)
Berlin Station launched with a bang, a complex, gripping spy drama that played out like a rich, multifaceted novel. With its final, third season, the series ends with a comparative …
TV: Veep (Seasons 1-7)
Oh, Veep. What hath thou wrought? (Or something.) Back in the LA days, when we had HBO, I started this series and kept up with it for a couple years …
TV: The Bureau (Season 1)
There’s nothing top secret about my mission to watch every great spy show ever made. I’ve logged many, many hours in the attempt. So I’d like to think it comes …
TV: Queen Sono (Season 1)
The Netflix original series Queen Sono doesn’t exactly reinvent the spy thriller, but it does something else important: it takes the spy thriller into uncharted, or at least under-charted, territory. …
Film: Cleanskin
For some reason, Cleanskin (2012) feels ancient, even though it only came out seven years ago. That says more about the change in the political climate than it does about …
TV: Pine Gap (Season 1)
Australia’s Pine Gap is the kind of spy show I would have utterly fallen in love with—about fifteen years ago. Alas, in the modern TV landscape, it feels rather second …
TV: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Season 1)
Although it probably seems like it, I’m not contractually obligated to watch every spy show ever made; t’s really just a compulsion. But I’m not sure that urge is strong …
TV: Mossad 101 (Season 2)
After a peculiar but satisfying first season, Israeli spy series Mossad 101 reinvents itself for a second year, with mixed and similarly peculiar results. It began as an awkward but …
TV: Homeland (Season 4)
Oh, Homeland, you exasperating motherfucker. Season four of Showtime’s prestige spy drama is a much-needed, overdue reinvention of the series that builds an intriguing new world for its heroes to …
TV: Quantico (Season 1)
My immediate impression of the pilot of Quantico: not bad, but is it sustainable? Short answer: nope. Indeed, while I considered it my duty as a spy fan to watch …
Film: That Man from Rio
I went way off the board looking for a movie to watch this weekend, and found That Man from Rio (1964), a quasi-Hitchcockian adventure travelogue that thinks it’s devilishly charming, but is …
TV: Daredevil (Season 1)
Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m an unreserved fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But for the first few episodes of Daredevil’s first season—now streaming on Netflix—I worried I …
TV: Salamander (Mini-Series)
Sad to say, I think the new reality of the Internet Age has rather taken the teeth out of the conspiracy thriller. With so much flagrant evidence of corruption and injustice on …