"Night 2"
With another two strong hours under its belt,
The Company is really shaping up to be the miniseries of the year, and one to watch out for come the next Emmy nominations.
Though the second section of a three-parter often suffers a little from being necessarily transitional (see the
Lord of the Rings and
Bourne trilogies), this episode side-stepped that trap, starting with a tried-and-true device: Open with a shocking dramatic event - say, the capture and torture of a main character (Jack) - then fall back three days to show how we got to this point.
But what looked from the previews last week to be the climax of this episode was only the beginning of the excitement. You could have made two stand-alone films out of this one's two main set pieces: The Hungarian uprising, shot as a bloody gun battle in an urban wasteland, and the botched Bay of Pigs invasion, a full-scale beach-storming under cover of darkness that rivaled any Hollywood war movie. While "Night 1" was about the dirty business of back-room deals and international espionage, "Night 2" was about the logical conclusion of many "moves behind moves" - death and destruction.
The further we get into this story, the grimmer the picture of the CIA gets, and of the U.S. government as whole. I found myself nearly as incredulous as Jack when the Company made promise after promise to desperate foreign rebels that it couldn't - or simply wouldn't - keep.
And with Jack's disillusionment plain, it seemed like the medal he was awarded for bravery was really just another shady ploy to renew his loyalty in the Company, or at least ensure he wouldn't be shouting too loudly about America's duplicity.
One bright spot was the welcome introduction of a more compelling romantic interest for Jack in
Natascha McElhone, who first turned heads (or at least this writer's) in 1998 with
The Truman Show and
Ronin. I would have liked to see more of her Elizabet, and maybe we still will; but with such a broad historical scope, I guess some characters are bound to get lost along the way, and the British freedom fighter might be one such casualty.
Finally, I'd be remiss (again) not to mention the
The Company's striking - though too brief - animated opening, a subtle nod to
Alice in Wonderland that succinctly illustrates the miniseries' down-the-rabbit-hole theme. It's another bold choice on TNT's part that you'd probably never see from a wooden "Big 3" miniseries. As the broadcast suits continue to ponder where all the TV-watchers have gone,
The Company is yet another flashing neon sign responding "Right here."
Watch online: For clips of
The Company, visit TVGuide.com's
Online Video Guide.
