Debashine Thangevelo
HOLLYWOOD has been quietly dipping into Israel’s creative banks for their spy dramas. Allegiance, based on The Gordin Cell, follows the award-winning series Homeland, which borrowed its premise from Hatufim( Prisoners of War).
As such, there is an understandable basis for comparisons – from their respective standpoints, that is.
The two characters are strong and determined woman in their own right. While Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison is unapologetically hasty in her mission to out/eliminate traitors and terrorists, Hope Davis comes from a different perspective.
Her character, Katya O’Connor, finds herself in a tortuous mess. On the one hand, she is a retired – more like sleeper – KGB intelligence agent. However, her introduction to the spy world was a reluctant one – she was recruited at 17 by her father – a KGB general. And, in her normal life, she is a mother and wife.
Back to the genre, though. Many of the shows on TV, from Covert Affairs to The Americans, have powerful female characters at the helm.
What makes these shows highly compelling is the writers ensuring that the high-risk missions have a knock-on effect on the characters’ personal lives. Whether it is maintaining a relationship, falling in love with the enemy or protecting their family – these women spies are fully aware of what’s at stake – and go ahead, anyway.
In Allegiance, which is created by George Nolfi ( The Bourne Ultimatum and The Adjustment Bureau), he weaves a web of mayhem in the lives of the O’Connor family when Alex, a specialist CIA analyst and go-to-expert on Russian affairs, is called in to assist in a joint FBI-CIA investigation into an imminent SVR threat to the US.
What’s rather ironic is the fact that he has been completely oblivious of his family links to the KGB, including his older sister being an agent.
And that’s where the twist comes into play, with pandemonium erupting as the home truths come to light.
This series offers a mélange of betrayal, suspense, drama and action. However, it wasn’t substantial enough to sustain it – the audience ratings were abysmal.
And critics were rather unforgiving with their reviews.
The show has come under heavy fire for imitating other offerings, and many parallels were drawn between the storytelling and execution.
Davis has her strong suit as an actress. She plays fractured characters with finesse. And in her longstanding acting career, she has covered a wide gamut of roles. More recently, viewers will remember her from Wayward Pines.
She also has a poker face that makes her an ideal candidate to play a secret agent.
Once again, another NBC series bites the dust. Looks like the network top dogs need to be a bit more savvy with their commissions because right now they are developing an embarrassing reputation for procuring duds.
l Allegiance airs on M-Net Edge (DStv channel 102) on Fridays at 7pm.