I would call this quite entertaining television popcorn fair. You really need to turn your brain off and I have serious questions about how long they can maintain this scenario, but for the time being it is a good way to waste an hour.
The story involves Edward, raised an orphan, who joined the army, served in the special forces and eventually joined a SUPER SECRET organization who works behind the scenes to save the world on a regular basis. This organization recruits people who are willing to have an alternate personality created for them (in Edward's case this is Henry) and live two lives - one 'normal Joe' type life and one superspy, each unaware of the other's existence. Whew! It's complicated just to write a quick synopsis! It's pretty entertaining, but suspension of disbelief is a requirement. I couldn't stop wondering why, when one agent displayed mental imbalance, they merely erased her spy identity and let her live her normal life, yet when they suspected the same of Edward they were going to kill him. Wouldn't they just have a universal policy? And then there's this whole conspiracy of folks around him who are helping to hide his condition. Why? It only endangers those around him. His civilian personality frequently pops up when he's supposed to be shooting down an airplane or torturing a suspect. The biggest question for me is what is the possible advantage of splitting a spy's personality in the first place? This is brought to a head in an episode concerning Edward's partner Raymond (or Tom, in civilian life). Someone from Ray's past recognizes 'Tom', and of course, he has no idea what's going on. This actually does lead to one of the more amusing episodes however, with Tom's wife witnessing Ray committing murder. I'm not sure how long I can keep my thoughts turned to 'off'.
Overall, this may be one of those shows that ultimately would have worked better as a mini series; I may be just one "we can torture because we're the good guys" speech away from giving this the boot.
The story involves Edward, raised an orphan, who joined the army, served in the special forces and eventually joined a SUPER SECRET organization who works behind the scenes to save the world on a regular basis. This organization recruits people who are willing to have an alternate personality created for them (in Edward's case this is Henry) and live two lives - one 'normal Joe' type life and one superspy, each unaware of the other's existence. Whew! It's complicated just to write a quick synopsis! It's pretty entertaining, but suspension of disbelief is a requirement. I couldn't stop wondering why, when one agent displayed mental imbalance, they merely erased her spy identity and let her live her normal life, yet when they suspected the same of Edward they were going to kill him. Wouldn't they just have a universal policy? And then there's this whole conspiracy of folks around him who are helping to hide his condition. Why? It only endangers those around him. His civilian personality frequently pops up when he's supposed to be shooting down an airplane or torturing a suspect. The biggest question for me is what is the possible advantage of splitting a spy's personality in the first place? This is brought to a head in an episode concerning Edward's partner Raymond (or Tom, in civilian life). Someone from Ray's past recognizes 'Tom', and of course, he has no idea what's going on. This actually does lead to one of the more amusing episodes however, with Tom's wife witnessing Ray committing murder. I'm not sure how long I can keep my thoughts turned to 'off'.
Overall, this may be one of those shows that ultimately would have worked better as a mini series; I may be just one "we can torture because we're the good guys" speech away from giving this the boot.