After enjoying its share of success with "The Blacklist" and various imitators, NBC moves into similar terrain to "The Endgame", with its major wrinkle and upgrade being Morena Baccarin (similar to her initial "V" role). ) as a mysterious female fatale. , Cleverly made and fast-paced, it makes for an engrossing thriller, though it's a dice roll in how long it can go on.
Like "The Blacklist" (which has passed its expiration date), the series begins with Baccarin's Elena Federova, an international arms smuggler, who has a touch of Natasha's grotesque accent and a look in her eyes. There are too many glaring dangers that have been taken into custody. FBI. But it is quickly demonstrated that she is playing a much bigger game and is several steps ahead of her, with her henchmen hitting seven banks around New York City, that remains to be determined.
"You messed with the wrong woman," Elena informs her captors, later warning them, "don't hit the tiger with a small stick."
Although the elders are supposedly unaware, an agent, Val Turner ("First Wives Club" Ryan Michelle Bathe), has a history with Federova, which recognizes the scope of the plot. Yet she carries baggage in the form of her disgraced husband, while clearly representing the only person on the chessboard whom the criminal mastermind respects.
Unlike "Blacklist" and indeed many network crime dramas, "Endgame" proceeds on a densely ordered path, presenting not only this elaborate plot, but also Elena's upbringing and that of Sergei ("The Americans" Costa Ronin). Flashbacks involving the wedding, a structure that is a structure. Offers some hope of teasing it for a while.
That said, "The Blacklist" worked best during that initial introduction to Reddington, becoming more tedious as it piled up red herrings and thrashed Cain down the road. One advantage here is that the conflict seems more focused, setting up a classic battle of wits between the central pair, with Elena calculating every possible scenario and anticipating every event.
Created by Nicholas Wooten, the series may face similar obstacles over time, but Elena's dialogue, in the midst of everything else, maintains her good-to-gel-orange wardrobe, early on. In the round it is highly creative. Plus, it launched after much hype at the Olympics and the Super Bowl—hardly an assurance of success, but not sliced liver, even in the streaming age.
For now, "The Endgame" makes just enough moves to inspire curiosity about where this complicated plan ultimately leads. While it doesn't tell you much about its end game, as this type of exercise does, it's a good place to start.