Treason Review: Charlie Cox Series Comes With Lots of Well-Choreographed Action and Several Twists and Turns
Cast: Charlie Cox, Olga Kurylenko, Ciarán Hinds, Avital Lvova, Kevin Harvey, Oona Chaplin, Joe Macaulay, Beau Gadsdon, Samuel Leakey, Adam James
Director: Louise Hooper, Sarah O’Gorman
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Not sure how to spend the afternoon of December 26th? No problem because the new Charlie Cox series, Treason, will debut on Netflix on Boxing Day. Maybe you haven’t heard of it yet or you haven’t come across the various trailers but believe me after reading even the incipit of this review, if you love the genre, you will need to give it an opportunity. Treason is the new James Bond-style action show, but this time signed by Netflix. The protagonist is played by the beloved Daredevil, Charlie Cox wearing the new MI6 agent clothes to perfection. If James Bond is the hero without blemish, Adam Lawrence is not as clear and transparent as it seems, indeed his rising career has been facilitated more than once. However, he’s not the only one hiding a dark secret among the top management of the UK’s most famous detective agency. Action, family and a sense of duty are the cornerstones of Treason, a show that captures the viewer’s attention from the very first minutes.
If you start Treason on the day of the debut, I’m sure you will arrive in the evening having already finished the mini-series. The show is a film divided into 5 parts: the plot of what could be considered a 007 spin-off, darker and without its top agent, is properly jagged into 5 chapters of 45 minutes each. Each episode explores themes, secrets and characters in detail. Everything is very clear and easily understandable it will be impossible not to empathize with the characters. One episode leads to another, and you will end up with the series ending without even realizing it.
Treason Review: The Story
Trained and groomed by MI6, Adam Lawrence’s career seems like a fairy tale. But someone from his past will come back to haunt him. Kara (played by Olga Kurylenko) is a Russian spy with whom he shares a turbulent past. Charlie Cox’s character is then forced to question everything and everyone in his life. In particular, her relationship with his wife Maddy (played by Oona Chaplin) creates a kind of love triangle between Adam, Maddy and Kara. The cumbersome presence of the Russian spy makes itself felt and makes Maddy question her husband’s fidelity. Kara’s arrival in their life, however, is premeditated. We find out that she was the one who engineered the assassination attempt on MI6 head Martin Angelis (played by Ciarán Hinds) just to get at Adam.
The two are former lovers and accomplices, they have already known each other since the days of Baku, a mission that will return during the course of the series because that is where the turning point of the entire plot is accessed. We will find out that Kara has come to collect all the favors – unsolicited – done to her partner. At the same time, however, the couple has a much more serious matter to solve. Their eldest daughter, Ella (played by Beau Gadsdon) has been kidnapped and only Kara knows the way to find her. Thus began the strategy made of espionage and counterespionage where Maddy herself now no longer trusts her husband. Now aware of confidential information about Adam’s past, the character played by Oona Chaplin begins to play a double game. The story has just begun, and it doesn’t promise to be that simple.
The skein to unravel is so tangled that it is difficult to understand the beginning and the end. We don’t have the complete picture of the situation and just like the characters in the series, we can’t trust anyone. If we are initially tempted to see Kara as a threat, we gradually get to know the reasons for her choices. The young woman who spies that she previously held the reins of this threat is now threatened in turn. At the center of it all is Adam who tries in every way to juggle family evenings and his ex while MI6 begins to have doubts about his loyalty to intelligence.
Treason Review and Analysis
You will have understood that I particularly appreciate the James Bond films. I am convinced that they are now considered essential classics for cinephiles. In my humble opinion, the films dedicated to Allen 007 are those transgenerational feature films that can please both children and adults. In essence, they are the perfect films to bring the family together at the cinema. Who said that only Disney films can do it? Daniel Craig’s latest films have proven to be able to engage anyone, even the most skeptical and least passionate. That said, you shouldn’t be surprised by the constant frequency of shows inspired by the famous successes of James Bond. Netflix among all the various streaming platforms is focusing strongly not only on fantasy but also on action and spy movies. In this case, we will analyze a TV series but the association and comparison with spy and action films do not sound at all risky for more than one factor.
First of all, Treason is qualified and created to be a mini-series, a serial product yes but not destined to continue its run at the end of the first season as such it was written and has therefore undergone the typical creative process of films: it has a beginning and an end well studied to be such and unshakeable. The only difference lies in what concerns the timing of the narration: in Treason, being a 5-episode mini-series, the product has almost 5 hours to develop a solid plot, characterize and deepen the various characters and convince the viewer. The ability to conquer and captivate the viewer must be successful in the first 10 minutes. Fortunately, Treason’s captivating and captivating pilot does the job. The first episode quickly introduces the events and with a quick succession of scenes the viewer is immediately catapulted into the heart of the action, the initial preambles are there but they are not too dilated or demanding. The viewer is immediately captivated by the pure action of the series, by the diplomatic secrets and mysteries to be solved.
Adam Lawrence (Charlie Cox), trained and educated by MI6, is the protagonist of Treason. He is a dutiful man, faithful to his family and his agency. Whose career seems secure and ready to take off. He has had success and a rapid rise. In a short time, he has become deputy head of MI6 and his path is prone to losing his flight. When C, the head of the agency, is poisoned, Adam is immediately appointed acting head and the reins of the world’s most famous spy agency pass into his hands. The protagonist investigating who is behind the attempted murder of C is faced with his past and heavy unexpected revelations. When his past comes knocking on his door, he finds himself forced to question everything and everyone. To upset his life is Kara, a Russian spy with whom he shares a complicated history. Adam and Kara have been allies and lovers on one particular mission, the first of the MI6 agents which sadly ended in tragedy.
Kara has been trying for over 15 years to find out who is behind the brutal murder of her team. To achieve her goal, the Russian agent helped Adam, an unsuspecting accomplice, to climb the heights of the agency. Kara, every time she had the opportunity provided, without being discovered, Adam had the right clue to thwart an attack or a coup. All of this help helped Adam to climb positions within the agency. Promotion after promotion, Agent Lawrence became part of C’s small group of collaborators until he was named his deputy. Now Kara is ready to collect the favors granted. The young Russian spy has only one goal:
Adam’s family fits into this complicated situation: Maddy and the couple’s two children. Maddy is a physical therapist and former operative in Vietnam. She knows the dangers of Adam’s job and understands and supports him, but when things get complicated and the children are involved, she proves herself ready to do anything to defend his blood. She may no longer trust anyone, not even her husband since she has always hidden Kara’s existence from her. It’s a shame that Maddy initially trusts the wrong people and then regrets it for the rest of her days. A strange relationship develops between Adam, Kara and Maddy, the protagonist’s wife: three people trying to expose each other while trying to hold on to their personal lives and those they love most.
The show develops a believable and solid storyline that only reveals itself chapter after chapter. Relationships are important and the threads that bind the characters are even more intricate than they might seem. No one is as transparent as he thinks he is. The rottenness lurks behind the most unthinkable of characters and the agency is by no means an institution of integrity. Corruption and double-dealing are the order of the day at MI6. It will be up to Adam to unwrap the balance, a pity that his name will not come out clean.
Angelis has long since begun her crusade against Adam. Convinced that the agent is a traitor named Dorian and that he killed the agents on a mission to Baku with Kara. Right on the final Treason starts to become even more interesting by adding other pieces. With Olamide offside, Angelis right shoulder, recovering the hard disk with the documents becomes simple, perhaps too much. Dede has set a trap for Adam by giving Maddy an ultimatum that he will consecrate her husband’s fate in the hands of the woman. Adam dies, the victim of a misunderstanding so much bigger than him and beyond his reach. So Maddy and Kara to clear his name will have to try to find out who Dorian is. For once Angelis is not one step ahead of everyone.
Once the incriminating documents have been handed over to Audrey Gratz, the viewer is ready to answer one last question: who are the good guys? Adam, believed to be a traitor, dies sacrificing his life for his affections and his family. He is the victim of the same people he called his friends until a moment before. One of them was Patrick playing dirty by setting up Adam and his family. Family and loved ones are what keep people anchored to life. That’s what Kara did, searching for 15 years for the person who pulled the trigger, killing her friends. That’s what Adam did, trying to protect his wife and children from this threat. And that’s what Maddy will do so that he will continue to live for the sake of his children, thinking of the day when he will take his revenge.
Treason Review: The Last Words
Treason is the new James Bond-style action show but this time signed by Netflix. The protagonist is played by the beloved Daredevil, Charlie Cox who wears the new MI6 agent clothes to perfection. If James Bond is the hero without blemish, Adam Lawrence is not as clear and transparent as it seems, indeed his rising career has been facilitated more than once. However, he’s not the only one harboring dark secrets among the top management of the UK’s most famous detective agency. The miniseries created by Matt Charman turns out to be a successful product, both for the conclusive ending that puts an end to the storylines of the characters in a definitive way and for the quality of the arguments it brings to the small screen. Although the theme of espionage is widely abused on Netflix, Treason with its complex characters can involve the viewer.
