El regreso de la espía

This could have been a decent 2hr movie or 2 part story. No need to be 6 1/2 hours long. Too much back and forth between past and present. It is like they set out for a series but did not have a strong enough story. So they made a great opening and then 5 episodes worth of dialogue before the end.

In From The Cold: US mom Jenny Franklin is acting as chaperone to her teen daughter Becca's figure skating team in Madrid where she is abducted by a CIA team and it's revealed that Jenny is a Russian assassin who adopted a new identity in the 1990s. She is blackmailed into working for the Company, the alternative being a berth in a Supermax. She hasn't lost her skills and we soon discover that she has additional talents. I won't give away all of her powers as some of them are crucial to the plot development. We enter a world of smoke and mirrors, plots, counter-plots, red herrings and conspiracies. Spy-Tech observation is ubiquitous, no one knows who really watching them not even the watchers. Some convincing well choreographed fights and flash backs to the young Jenny on her first mission. Family loyalty as well as betrayal and infighting is important to the spies and assassins across agencies and secret societies. An enjoyable twist on the female assassin trope with quite a few plot twists and surprises. Created and Written by Adam Glass, Directed by Ami Canaan Mann and Birgitte Stærmose. Eight episodes on Netflix. 8/10.

The actors try, but this is just weird. The writers just strung tropes and cliches together hoping something would emerge. Nothing did. What we got is a terrible mashup of The Americans, Homeland, Killing Eve, Mission Impossible, and Manimal.

I watched all 8 episodes between last evening and this morning as it's a nice contained story (or is it?!). There were some very decent plot twists. The body morphing technology seems pretty nuts but this is a fictional story so I just went with it.

I read some reviews criticizing the flashbacks but I think they were important to shape the characters although it's not until they all wrapped up that the significance is clear. Hence, my advice to stick it out if you have got the time and the interest after the first couple episodes.

I could have done without the teenage drama which was kinda messy insofar as the storyline behind it but it was minor so I'll let it go too. I literally feel that way about every show/movie with whiny teenagers.

Main characters were very entertaining. Supporting were a little cheesy at times but served their purpose.

Overall, a fun little distraction for a cold January weekend!

I read some terrible reviews, but realised most had not actually watched more than 1 or 2 episodes at the most. I liked the premise so gave it a go. So glad I did. It was gripping, a roller coaster. Pretty violent but some great twists. Strong female characters. Give it a go, I'm glad I watched it!