The Show You're Not Watching

I stumbled onto this little gem thanks to my BF's fancy cable. After watching 6 episodes back-to-back, I'm hooked.

The drama features Claire Danes (who despite my best efforts, I cannot bring myself to like), Damien Lewis (you'll recognize him, but you won't know why), and Mandy Patinkin (a great actor, who is apparently a terror to work with, but that's neither here nor there.).

I'm really selling it, aren't I.

The premise of the show centers around a bipolar CIA agent (Danes), her curmudgeonly boss (Patinkin), and a POW returned home after 8 years in captivity, (Lewis). 

Danes suspects (psychotically so), that the POW has been turned/brainwashed by his terrorist captors. Her boss (who is also oddly suspicious), isn't quite on board with her theory, but allows her to spy on him ("Big Brother"-style), and his family during his first weeks home. It's uncomfortable watching her watch them. Uncomfortable not only because of the private moments she witnesses, but also the mere fact that she can. 

Each 50 minute episode is filled with little moments that make you question every character's actions, words, and facial expressions. They're all deliberate, but what do they mean? The show strikes the right balance between focusing on what the show is about (is he or isn't he) while also incorporating the right personal elements of each character's lives. We don't see what we don't need to see. 

Though there are other dramas out there that feel very timely and relevant (i.e "Walking Dead", "Once Upon a Time" aklsdfjalk;sdjf), this one gets at the secret lives, processes, and forces at work in our current version of reality. I won't go so far as to draw comparisons to it being an actual reality show (the timelines, dramatic twists, etc are exaggerated), but the core of this show - terrorism - feels very real.

The end of the 6th episode was a game-changer. We had a theory. The theory was wrong. I love it when that happens.

Sunday nights on Showtime, 9CST.