One cannot properly review this brilliant and exceptional TV series without spoilers. I have tried to avoid them but my best advice to the reader is stop here. Well, you have decided to go on reading anyway. Be assured I have been very careful not to reveal the plot itself.
Instead, I shall simply point out the strong points of Rubicon and why I think it is well worth watching. Remember Rubicon is the symbol of no return, the burning of bridges after one has crossed them if you will. It is derived from the name of a minor Italian stream that marked the southern limit of Gaul. In leaving Gaul behind him Caesar followed his critical and irreversible decision to cross the Rubicon and march on Rome with his legions. Exactly how such a title applies to the series is still a mystery to me so I must watch the series again it on DVD when it becomes available.
The series' own slogan is "Not Every Conspiracy is a Theory". There are no prior assumptions about a rather weakly linked chain of events that begin with a suicide of a person who at the beginning we do not know or what his motive was in blowing his brains out . The conspiracy, if indeed, there is one, may be uncovered by bringing together different pieces of evidence in a limited time without forming any hypothesis. On the way to solving or at least clarifying the problem the hero, the team leader , is beset by unexpected setbacks, offset to some extent by even less expected chance revelations and/or inspirations without prejudice. This is an intelligent person's spy tale with a non-Hollywood ending that, instead leads to all sorts of speculation.
The mostly American actors are superb, the script is well written and the music track pleasant and not annoying. This is not a James Bond or a 24 Hours fantasy, nor is it a John Le Carre film based on his novels. A small team of government analysts, all facing problems and different motives in their dysfunctional private lives, have links to the FBI and the CIA but work in a maverick way that the regular secret services cannot understand, The underfunded unit is looking into the case of a suspected terrorist and toils long hours in an obscure set of gloomy offices in a back street converted warehouse of lower Manhattan. They have to piece together a difficult jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces in a slow painstaking way despite time being of the essence. The main characters are more than just interesting as each displays a range of human strengths and weaknesses. These are real people neither Hollywood glamor pusses nor the sort of cardboard images one too often sees in TV series. The unit shows an ability to work as a team sometimes and at cross purposes at others.
Despite its deliberate pace and sobriety Rubicon has the necessary elements of love, back biting, and treachery. Unlike most other spy thrillers it is not drenched in action but not devoid of it either. Suicide, murder and mayhem as well as love, erotic sex and betrayal are here but do not dominate. All the usual salacious stuff that turns viewers on (or off) is soft pedaled and much left to the imagination. When one thinks about it the understatements in Rubicon are more pungent than the obvious sex and gore seen in most TV today. Some viewers may find Rubicon slow at first but my advice is wait until the DVD comes out, once the kids and maiden Aunt Edith have gone to bed Try and focus on the details and lines, and exchange of remarks (the advantage of DVDs over live TV is one has the ability to pause and go back).
Rubicon was limited to one season of 13 of roughly one hour ad-free episodes. Some viewers may have been disappointed that AMC decided against a second season. However, I think the AMC folk were right. By the end of episode 13 the plot had developed as far as it could, with the hero and viewers left holding the final piece of the puzzle and wandering how it fits, although most of us will have a pretty good idea. The ending does leave the viewer in suspense but,thank God, at the end there is no Hercule Poirot smugly explaining in every detail how he came to his conclusion. it would have been clumsy to have gone on even five minutes longer than the actual final fade out.
Instead, I shall simply point out the strong points of Rubicon and why I think it is well worth watching. Remember Rubicon is the symbol of no return, the burning of bridges after one has crossed them if you will. It is derived from the name of a minor Italian stream that marked the southern limit of Gaul. In leaving Gaul behind him Caesar followed his critical and irreversible decision to cross the Rubicon and march on Rome with his legions. Exactly how such a title applies to the series is still a mystery to me so I must watch the series again it on DVD when it becomes available.
The series' own slogan is "Not Every Conspiracy is a Theory". There are no prior assumptions about a rather weakly linked chain of events that begin with a suicide of a person who at the beginning we do not know or what his motive was in blowing his brains out . The conspiracy, if indeed, there is one, may be uncovered by bringing together different pieces of evidence in a limited time without forming any hypothesis. On the way to solving or at least clarifying the problem the hero, the team leader , is beset by unexpected setbacks, offset to some extent by even less expected chance revelations and/or inspirations without prejudice. This is an intelligent person's spy tale with a non-Hollywood ending that, instead leads to all sorts of speculation.
The mostly American actors are superb, the script is well written and the music track pleasant and not annoying. This is not a James Bond or a 24 Hours fantasy, nor is it a John Le Carre film based on his novels. A small team of government analysts, all facing problems and different motives in their dysfunctional private lives, have links to the FBI and the CIA but work in a maverick way that the regular secret services cannot understand, The underfunded unit is looking into the case of a suspected terrorist and toils long hours in an obscure set of gloomy offices in a back street converted warehouse of lower Manhattan. They have to piece together a difficult jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces in a slow painstaking way despite time being of the essence. The main characters are more than just interesting as each displays a range of human strengths and weaknesses. These are real people neither Hollywood glamor pusses nor the sort of cardboard images one too often sees in TV series. The unit shows an ability to work as a team sometimes and at cross purposes at others.
Despite its deliberate pace and sobriety Rubicon has the necessary elements of love, back biting, and treachery. Unlike most other spy thrillers it is not drenched in action but not devoid of it either. Suicide, murder and mayhem as well as love, erotic sex and betrayal are here but do not dominate. All the usual salacious stuff that turns viewers on (or off) is soft pedaled and much left to the imagination. When one thinks about it the understatements in Rubicon are more pungent than the obvious sex and gore seen in most TV today. Some viewers may find Rubicon slow at first but my advice is wait until the DVD comes out, once the kids and maiden Aunt Edith have gone to bed Try and focus on the details and lines, and exchange of remarks (the advantage of DVDs over live TV is one has the ability to pause and go back).
Rubicon was limited to one season of 13 of roughly one hour ad-free episodes. Some viewers may have been disappointed that AMC decided against a second season. However, I think the AMC folk were right. By the end of episode 13 the plot had developed as far as it could, with the hero and viewers left holding the final piece of the puzzle and wandering how it fits, although most of us will have a pretty good idea. The ending does leave the viewer in suspense but,thank God, at the end there is no Hercule Poirot smugly explaining in every detail how he came to his conclusion. it would have been clumsy to have gone on even five minutes longer than the actual final fade out.