TV Review: MI-5

A short description cribbed from Amazon.com:

"John Le Carre for the Internet generation, the BBC's MI-5 is a smart combination of TV cop show and George Smiley-esque espionage shenanigans that pulls no punches in its depiction of [a British domestic intelligence service] team fighting a covert war on the streets of London. This is adult, post-watershed drama clearly inspired by the hard-hitting style of shows as 24 and The Sopranos. The strong ensemble cast is led by charismatic Matthew MacFadyen as Tom Quinn, star spy of "Section B," the counterterrorism branch. MI-5 also delves fearlessly into the characters' turbulent personal lives, here given an added twist by their constant need to deceive even those they love. Throughout, the show strikes a fine balance between a James Bond-ian techno-obsession with spy gadgets and more character-based action, with crisp writing and direction that ratchets up the tension a notch further with every episode."

This series has only a handful of major characters for you to memorize, but the scripts are complex and nuanced; each episode requires constant attention. This is not the right show to watch while half-occupied with something else. Subtlety is often required for ring of intelligence, and the key characters get the chance to think on their feet as they detect the circumstances changing from moment to moment. Some of the most dramatic scenes use split-screen effects to show two characters at once, and highlight the time-sensitive nature of the action. The look and feel is very cinematic; the low lighting and the color palette of dark blues, greens, and grays contribute to the modern high-tech tone.

I'm also a fan of the spy-related show Alias, but that show is very different from MI-5. Alias plays up its sexpot factor (Jennifer Garner, scantily clad) as well as its ridiculously complex and too-wierd-to-be-plausible storylines. MI-5's storylines are heavily complex without losing plausibility. It touches on today's real issues: drug trafficking, religious fundamentalism, terrorism of all sorts. The character's personal storylines are more compelling and less whiny than those on Alias. The closest thing MI-5 has to a sexpot is Matthew McFadyen (rrrowr!), who just looks awesome in an open-necked oxford shirt. I'd say that Alias is a highly enjoyable but somewhat fluffy entertainment; MI-5 is darker and more engrossing.

Season Three just began here* with last Saturday's episode; it resolved the previous season's cliffhanger, but foreshadowed turbulent times for our favorite pack of spies. If you can find the DVD sets of Season One or Season Two, they're definitely worth a watch — but if you can't track them down, the Episode Guide is a good place to start. Episode 1.2 has a particularly harrowing murder scene (which was the BBC's most-complained about show in 2002, and literally kept me awake at night), but don't let it keep you from continuing; it's an anomaly, and the show is still great.

It's worth noting that the episodes on DVD are about 20 minutes longer apiece than those that air on A&E, due to the fact that they run for one commercial-free hour the BBC. Of course our stations insert commercials into the one-hour time slot and cut the episode to allow for it, but the editing/trimming seems to be done carefully enough that the storylines don't seem to be missing anything.

Also worth a look is the rest of the MI-5 website. There are bios for the actors and their characters. You can even play some spy-themed interactive games — they're hard! But fun.

[* Season Three has been aired in its entirety in the UK, where the show is known as "Spooks". According to the BBC site, Season Four is due to start airing in the UK in "late 2005" — who knows when it will get here. But I'm definitely hooked.]