I can’t think of a more perfect genre than spy thrillers to immerse myself in for the winter. Time to come in from the cold, in every sense of the term!
Spy films are a bit of a personal cult favorite. I have a soft spot for them, if you will. They’re surprisingly not hard to pull off well – a tightly wound plot, political intrigue, a sprinkle of romance, some backstabbing and I’m all set. It’s not a genre that gets a lot of fanfare outside of the eminent James Bond megafranchise, but its well worth your time. Yes, even all the Mission Impossible films.
Why? Spy capers are fun. They’re the ultimate in escapism. No matter how big and overblown and ridiculous, I can’t say I’ve ever been particularly bored by high-stakes and ordinary human beings with extraordinary intelligence ruining their own lives on an international stage.
Spy capers are even more fun on television. A whole season worth of plot teasing? Count me in! Unfortunately, it’s still a little rare to see a true spy show on television these days. Sure, there are plenty of shows that share the elements, but it’s not quite the same. Let me shine a light on a few of my even cult-ier favorite spy shows.
One that is dear and close to my heart celebrates the ninth anniversary of its short run this January: Human Target! God, Human Target really deserved better. It had the makings of everything: a great cast, great soundtrack, an interesting plot, and some bombastic visuals per any project associated with McG.
Unfortunately, things went down hill for Human Target in Season 2. The once rollicking plot became rather generic and tepid. Characters became shells of their former nuanced selves. I dared to ask for more Chi McBride. Did I say I like romance in my spy capers? I meant sometimes. What really gets my goat is enforced hetero romance between pretty protagonist A and pretty protagonist B. What I’m saying is, Chance/Guerrero was the true ship of this show. I’ll never forgive the 2nd season for trying to make me accept Chance & Pucci.
Enforced heteronormativity isn’t always enough to make me hate a show, because I sure was addicted to the tortured romance of Nikita and Michael in La Femme Nikita (1997). It didn’t heat up quite enough for me in Nikita (2011) but different time, different channel. La Femme Nikita was my Buffy, Angel, and Xena all in one on Sunday nights. I hunted down the original movie for years only to be disappointed that it didn’t feature an icy blonde kicking ass, but I got over it with time. It doesn’t get enough credit for intense action and a great soundtrack. Sure it’s a little corny now, but what is life without the right amount of cheese?
Speaking of cheese, my forever obsession of the new ‘10s is and may always be The Blacklist. It’s slowly turning into the CSI: Miami of spy thrillers, The Blacklist is meta about being preposterous and it doesn’t care. With each season the titular blacklist takes more of a backseat to the highly combustible bond between international assassin Raymond Reddington and FBI profiler Elizabeth Keen until it’s practically in the trunk. With season 6 things are getting back on track, but I can’t pretend that I’m not pining for a spin-off in which Liz and Raymond run off together and solve global mysteries (and maybe keep killing people). The Blacklist is unique in that it uses the dense and complex layer of secrets, politics, murders, and cover ups to create a sympathetic character in Red and absolutely pull at the heartstrings. It reminds me a lot of what Hannibal attempted to do; if only Hannibal weren’t an unrepentant murderer.
I can’t think of anything else more binge-worthy than a show that intentionally keeps you guessing, and cliffhangers are my one true weakness. I’m hoping the critical acclaim behind Park Chan-wook’s treatment of Little Drummer Girl for AMC and Jack Ryan for Amazon Prime will drive us towards more shifty espionage hi-jinks for the small screen. In the uncertain political climate as we hurdle towards what awaits us in 2020, the spy genre certainly isn’t coming in from the cold just yet.