Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope yours was as good as mine was, and you enjoyed some time away from the small screen.
2015 is upon us, bringing with it a large number of series, new and returning. Most of these series tend to be pretty short and sharp, typically around the 10-13 episode mark, and NBC's freshman thriller, Allegiance, is one of these series, with a 13 episode run kicking off a month away from today.
Premiering Thursday February 5, 10|9c, after The Blacklist, Allegiance centers around a family with a varied background in both Russian and American intelligence. Parents Mark (Scott Cohen) and Katya (Hope Davis) O'Connor live in New York, and have three children to their name - the eldest being daughter Natalie (Margarita Levieva), followed by son Alex (Gavin Stenhouse), and daughter Sarah (Alexandra Peters). I'll stop right there and congratulate series creator George Nolfi and his team for assigning character names that are conventional, easy to remember, and most importantly, easy to spell and type while I'm reviewing this series for SpoilerTV.
That aside, and moving right along, I'll say right now that the series premiere is excellent. The 43 minutes absolutely flew by when I watched it, and while a hell of a lot happens, it is a breeze to follow - one of the best pilots I've ever seen when analyzing this aspect.
There's a solid back-story too - one of the aspects I pay the most attention to in a new series I'm interested in. Katya originates from Russia and had worked for her homeland's intelligence arm, the KGB. Decades earlier she had been tasked with recruiting her now businessman husband Mark. A romance blossomed, but in return for being allowed to move to America, marry, and live together, Katya had to remain as a KGB asset who could be reactivated at any time. Now's as good a time as any to mention that there aren't any flashbacks in the premiere - all this is learned from press releases and the episode itself.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the series picks up with an old colleague of the O'Connor's, and SVR operative Victor Dobrynin (Morgan Spector) knocking on the door, and delivering the news to Katya that she is being reactivated, with her mission being to recruit her son Alex, an extremely gifted man who is mere months into his role as a CIA analyst. This is his parents' worst nightmare as they had worked all his life to hide any trace of their past with the KGB, and they had taken the same approach with their youngest daughter, Sarah. The same cannot be said for eldest daughter Natalie, who appears to have a reasonable degree of experience under her belt with the SVR. For those who are unaware, putting it simply, the KGB was founded in 1954 but dissolved in 1991, and largely replaced by the SVR as Russia's external intelligence agency.
While the family affairs garner considerable screen time, a large chunk of the remainder is spent with Alex and his work with the CIA. He is put to work under Sam Luttrell (Kenneth Choi), and alongside FBI agent Julia Marcus (Annie Ilonzeh) as they investigate the execution of a KGB agent, which was brought to light by a SVR agent who witnessed the execution and wants to defect, with her intelligence garnering the security of her family back in Russia.
While it may look like I've revealed quite a bit, there's plenty more to come. As I alluded to earlier, the episode is packed full of storytelling, but it was easy to follow and didn't feel rushed. Many new series attempt to use sheer volume and pace to portray intensity, but that's not the case with Allegiance. The well written storyline does that on its own, which is quite refreshing to see when you scan your eyes down a list of other action oriented series that have screened in the last couple of years.
It's probably worth addressing the comparison to what's widely considered the benchmark among intelligence themed series, Showtime's Homeland. Let's throw FX's The Americans and NBC's other CIA themed series, State of Affairs, into the mix as well while we're at it. At the end of the day, you may as well be comparing the quartet in the same way you'd compare the bulk of police crime procedurals - you have a similar set of base organizations (the CIA, NYPD, FBI etc) and a completely unique set of characters and storyline direction. Allegiance is its own series and is heading in a completely different tangent to its so-called competition, so you've heard it from me that you're wasting your time comparing it to other thematically similar offerings.
Along with giving its characters decent names, creator George Nolfi has done his homework with this series. Nolfi clearly has a passion for the subjects Allegiance leverages in its storyline, as detailed in a recent interview with the LA Times. It's clear he isn't ignoring the other series that share the same space as I alluded to in the previous paragraph - instead he is trying to do a better, more accurate job while doing his own thing, though the original concept comes from an Israeli drama with similar storylines. His investment in the area is a great sign, and it should secure the series from blowing up at the hands of a showrunner who looks like they are all but out of other decent ideas. Nolfi earns further brownie points in my book for writing one of my favorite movies, The Bourne Ultimatum.
Looking at the production quality, this was solid in all major areas. The directing, writing and cinematography were all pretty good, and the score, while surprisingly upbeat and quirky, could be a bit excessive at times, but bear in mind that a lot of these minor things undergo refinement before the episode makes it to air, which will be several months after we've received the screener to review. I was also impressed with the number of on location, outdoor shots. They are always much better than greenscreened scenes, so I'll be looking for those to continue.
Lastly, a quick word on the cast and their performances. Scott Cohen and Hope Davis are extensively experienced in front of the big and small screen, and did a solid job portraying a couple who clearly love each other, but have a tumultuous past. I really enjoyed their work. Gavin Stenhouse is the perfect man to play the sort of character he is playing, and I really enjoyed his performance. His characters' sisters, played by Margarita Levieva and Alexandra Peters didn't see a lot of screen time but their characters will definitely see development so I'll reserve judgement. The same can be said for Annie Ilonzeh. Kenneth Choi was a lot of fun to watch, with his character shaping up to be the primary source of humor. Lastly, Morgan Spector's character shares a lot of the spooky characteristics also seen in his portrayal of fellow Russian Peter Yogarov on Person of Interest. He gets a thumbs-up from me.
In all, the series premiere of Allegiance is excellent. It's definitely among the best of the freshman offerings this season, and earns a must-watch recommendation from me.
Thanks for reading! Allegiance will soon be on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com where you'll be able to keep tabs on its ratings, in addition to a host of other series. If you have any thoughts and theories, or questions you want to ask me, leave them in the comments below. You can watch a brief series promo here.
Mark your calendars now, Allegiance premieres Thursday February 5, 10|9c, after The Blacklist, on NBC.
Jimmy.
