IR TV Review: THE TERMINAL LIST - DARK WOLF - EPISODES 1-3 [Prime]
Creating a basis for the backstory for "The Terminal List" is integrated into the books. The first series was very specific in its thriller aspect while bringing the audience to bear with the character of Reece (Chris Pratt). His skills and what he might have become were obviously prefaced and built on something else which is touched on here. The person that did help him in Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch) in the earlier series seems very knowledgeable and cool in that series, even for a CIA black op operator. What this series in "Dark Wolf" does is show the build of this while interestingly still keeping a lot of what formed Edwards a mystery. The first episode takes place in the Mosul field of combat against ISIS. The brotherhood that functions within the SEALS but also the intelligence blockages and deals they are up against are highlighted. Edwards is a bad ass but Kitsch plays this earlier version of him with his heart of his sleeve with his other peeps with them.
While Reece is there (but more as a periphery to make sure Pratt initially draws viewers in) this is Kitsch's series but what is good is that, as it moves through the first three episodes, it feels more like an ensemble but with some really neat character work. Tom Hopper who many people know from "The Umbrella Academy" and "Welcome To Raccoon City" plays Raife who in a way acts as a conscience to Edwards when things fall a little out of line but despite his control, he also battles his own demons. The first episodes shows that even in the thick of trying to maintain control in a chaotic region, human behavior gets in the way. Edwards is, in a way, damaged goods but he is also not. He knows what he believes in and eventually what he is capable of. Decisions have to be made and sometimes the chain of command is broken and there are consequences. In the desert with the locations there is a sense of camp but also a sense of foreboding.
Pratt in that first episode allows his presence to bring a basis and inform what he did in the last series without overdoing it. When the perils lead Raife and Edwards to a different avenue into Europe, it happens by chance but not really. The weight that balances them comes forth in Robert Wisdom who plays Jed Haverford. This guy has seen it all but also knows how to build a team and yet everyone seems to owe him something. The series transforms and uses its locations (especially in Frankfurt and later in Budapest) to good avail. This series then becomes, in a certain way, more of a two hander but definitely builds an interesting set piece in the second episode that proves about what Edwards and Raife will be up against closer to civilian life. There are people back home and Kitsch plays the conflict of it but also the simpleness of what he sees it to be.
Rona Lee Shimon plays Eliza, another operative and a simple recon scene at a curbside bookstore says so much about them. Kitsch has always had this ability (this reviewer met him for "Wolverine: Origins" when he played Gambit). That role with him in it would have been fantastic at that point. The second episode does set the stage for the third episode conflict which is built off of the intel from the 2nd episode. The story, which is integrated into the lore of Jack Carr's novels on which the initial series was based, feeds this as well. It creates stakes without feeling overly heavy. There is a breeziness at time and yet one feels the seriousness. One of the CIA operators also turns out to be something you don't expect and some interesting faces along for the ride have misdirects one might not see.
As the crux of the third episode ups the ante, it becomes, for Edwards, after what happened in Mosul (and with a new wife waiting at home) wrapped in the question of where does the importance or "life" lie for him. Haverford talks to him at one point on a quiet night on the edge of a villa between an op and it is clea without being too clear. He has been there. Different people handle certain situations different. It is a matter where the rabbit hole goes (though we have an idea where it ends up). A-
By Tim Wassberg
