Key Takeaways
- Plot Overview: The series follows Alexander Hale, a Chinese-American intelligence analyst whose brain is hacked, exposing him to unseen threats.
- Genre Elements: It combines elements from classic espionage thrillers, yet fails to innovate within the genre.
- Character Dynamics: The show features a mix of personal and professional relationships that complicate Hale’s mission.
- Overall Impression: Despite its potential, the series does not fully utilize its talented cast and remains a forgettable entry in the spy genre.
Plot: This espionage thriller series follows first-generation Chinese-American intelligence analyst Alexander Hale who realizes his brain has been hacked, giving the perpetrators access to everything he sees and hears. Caught between his shadowy agency and the unknown hackers, he must maintain a performance 24/7 to flush out who’s responsible and prove where his allegiance lies.
Review: Network television has long been enamored with the world of spies. For decades, espionage thrillers have been a staple of small-screen entertainment, and the world of streaming has opened up numerous new avenues for shows about spies, as well as various ways to showcase the shadowy world of government agencies and technological innovation. The latest addition to the genre is Peacock’s The Copenhagen Test. Starring Simu Liu in his most significant role since playing Shang Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Copenhagen Test takes elements from shows like Alias and Mission: Impossible with a healthy dose of The Bourne Identity to deliver a binge-watch series that is chock full of technospeak and action with a twist that is meant to set it apart from everything else out there. Instead, The Copenhagen Test is a fairly by-the-numbers spy series that wastes the talent that Simu Liu has to offer.
The Copenhagen Test presents a fictional intelligence agency known as The Orphanage, which contains analysts on its lower floors and active field agents at the top. Run by founder St. George (Kathleen Chalfant), The Orphanage is the utmost secret agency in the United States government. Alexander Hale (Simu Liu) works as an analyst but aspires to move up to field duty. Formerly an active duty soldier who made a decision that has haunted him, Hale suffers from panic attacks that he must keep secret from his superiors if he hopes ever to become a field operative again. There is also the fact that Hale has been implanted with technology that has turned him into a transmitter, allowing a rogue nation to access what he sees and hears. Hale’s superior, John Moira (Brian d’Arcy James), offers Hale the opportunity to turn into a sort of double agent and help The Orphanage track down who hacked him and bring them to justice.
The eight-episode first season of The Copenhagen Test quickly introduces Alexander Hale’s friends and coworkers as it structures the world around him. He has an ex-fiancée, Dr. Rachel Kasperian (Hannah Cruz), as well as a new love interest, Michelle (Melissa Barrera). Michelle, a bartender who flirts with Hale, is also connected to the espionage world of The Orphanage, which also features rival agent Cobb (Mark O’Brien) and Parker (Sinclair Daniel), as well as Hale’s mentor and former spy Victor Simonek (Saul Rubinek). As Hale tries to figure out who he can trust and who works for the enemy, the series showcases a hidden world of agencies and factions that you will need to keep notes on to stay aware of. Like Alias, the various fictional agencies come into contact with real groups, but everything is designed to save the fate of the free world from the hands of nefarious terrorists. The question is whether Hale is working for the good guys or the bad guys.
Having seen the entire first season, The Copenhagen Test differs from most network series only in that it includes profanity. The level of violence is not much different than what you would see on NBC, nor is the quality of the storytelling. The series wastes Melissa Barrera in a role that could have been more significant but is instead a fairly cliché supporting player in Alexander Hale’s story. Simu Liu is a very charismatic actor who has enough charm and comedic timing to have played this role as more capable than he is. Liu is very dour and serious, with the actors around him contributing the levity or humor that Alexander Hale is lacking. By making Hale a first-generation Chinese American, The Copenhagen Test offers a unique twist on the typical spy story. Still, it is tacked onto an overly generic techno-thriller that feels like it is covering very familiar territory. I do like Saul Rubinek and Brian d’Arcy James, who both add some dimension to their characters, but the series seems unable to use everyone consistently throughout the season.
I had hoped that, given James Wan’s involvement as a producer through Atomic Monster, the series would incorporate the director’s distinctive style or approach to storytelling. Creator Thomas Brandon (Legacies) and co-showrunner Jennifer Yale (See, Legion) do not incorporate any of Wan’s techniques into The Copenhagen Test. Instead, the writing team, which also includes Jamie Chan, Adam Benic, Marilyn Fu, Hannah Rosner, and Monica Buccini, plays by the numbers with the elements of countless spy shows and movies we have seen before. The series adopts the “mission of the week” mentality from its predecessors and eliminates some of the cursory villains and subplots but is less reliant on them than other shows. There is a through line to the season-long narrative that offers some spins on the expected direction. Still, directors Jet Wilkinson, Nima Nourizadeh, and Kevin Tancharoen cannot elevate The Copenhagen Test above small-screen budgetary constraints that confine the action to warehouses and office buildings.
With all eight episodes dropping at once, Peacock may be hoping that audiences want something to binge after celebrating Christmas. Or it could be a way of dumping this series as quietly as possible. The Saturday release does not bode well for The Copenhagen Test to pay off any of the cliffhangers left at the end of what was clearly designed as the first season of an ongoing series. I really like Simu Liu and had hoped that The Copenhagen Test would be the deserved star vehicle the actor should have received right after playing Shang-Chi four years ago. While harmless,The Copenhagen Test is a bland attempt at crafting an action spy story that is too bogged down in a complex techno-thriller concept, wasting the potential of the cast and leaving audiences with a forgettable series.
The Copenhagen Test premieres on December 27th on Peacock.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
